Hell's Holding
by shegotofftheplane
Summary: Continuation to Grounded Glories. Darkness- it stalks. It chases. It feasts on the weak. A darkness is grabbing onto Rosie with fierce claws. The darkness reminds her of what she has lost. The darkness looms beneath her, ready to cause her to crumble. At the end of the day, only darkness remains. Completed
1. Impassable

Rosie was distracted.

The past few days, Rosie's mind had been wandering, never quite dwelling on things for too long. If she did think about everything...Percy and Annabeth gone...a certain scrawny boy in her mind...she would feel herself unraveling.

She was so distracted that she nearly died by a boulder crashing into her face. Frank had to pull her out of the way at the last second, tackling her to the ground of the _Argo II._

"Are you paying attention?" He asked scoldingly, shaking his head in disapproval.

"No."

Frank jerked back in confusion. "Seriously?"

"Thought it was the moon," she offered weakly.

Frank frowned. "What-"

Jason, flying above, cursed loudly and landed next to her. "Those stupid numina," he muttered. "At this point, we'll never make it around. We may have to sail back around the tip of Rome."

To reach the House of Hades, all they had to do was go straight east over the Apennines and across the Adriatic Sea. However, everytime the ship tried to cross the spine of Italy, numina had attacked- ugly, rock-like sons of Gaea.

Rosie sighed. "No- no more Rome."

Jason shot her a sympathetic look, nodding in agreement. "No more Rome."

Frank gave Jason a lost look. "What now?"

Rosie could hear the labored sigh coming from underneath Jason's breath. After Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, everyone seemed to gravitate towards Jason. They needed someone to give them direction, keep them on their path. They needed a leader.

Rosie was the only one who knew how much he hated it- she knew that he felt like he couldn't let them down...that he couldn't say no.

Jason's eyes flickered down to her fingernails, which had been bitten down to their nubs. It was a terrible habit she had when she was younger, one she had only kicked when her mom made her soak her fingernails in lemon juice. It came back now, however, when the stress of everything had gotten to her.

Self-conscious, she made her hands into fists, hiding her fingernails.

"We go to bed," he said, meeting Rosie's eyes.

"We do?" Frank asked.

Jason shrugged. "Our shift's almost over anyway- Nico, Leo, and Hazel will be up soon." He glanced over at Rosie again. "You good with that?"

She hated her cabin.

"Yeah," she said weakly. "I'm good with that."

Frank nodded, yawning and stretching his arms over his head. "I could definitely use some sleep. These days.." he hesitated. "I'm out like a light."

"Yeah," Jason said. "Me too."

Little did either of them know how Rosie spent last night: in Hazel's cabin, crying in her arms.

"_It's all my fault," she cried. "I'm why they're in Tatartus,"_

"_Shh," Hazel comforted gently as she wrapped her arms around Rosie, cheeks shiny with tears. "It's not your fault. It was going to collapse anyway."_

_Piper knocked at the door. Her eyes were puffy and red, and she was clutching a tissue box._

"_Hi," she said weakly. "I hear we're having a crying session in here?"_

"_Come join the party," Rosie choked out with a sob._

_Together, the three of them cried for their friends._

Thank god Hazel woke her up.

Her dad had started appearing in her dreams again, reminding her of the time when she thought he had hung the stars in the sky. She could see him so clearly in these dreams, could smell the sea on him.

His promise that he would never hurt her.

Dreams that hurt like hell.

She was grateful for the knock at her door that awoke her, the voice calling out her name.

"Rosie?"

Rosie rolled onto her side, glancing through the dark. "Hazel? Is that you? Is it another attack?" Wearily, she threw her blanket off, placing her feet on the ground.

Percy was gone- sea attacks were her daily reminder of this. She was responsible for the sea powers now- she was the token Poseidon kid.

Rosie had never understood the Roman ideals of duty. However, these past few nights, she was starting to get it.

Hazel winced. "No- sorry, no attacks." An embarrassed look appeared on her face. "I shouldn't have woken you up- it can wait."

"Hazel, come in," Rosie said, moving over in her bed to make space for Hazel. "It's fine, I promise." She had cried in Hazel's arms; the least she could do was return the favor somehow. "What happened?"

Hazel gulped, nodding as she sat down next to Rosie.

"So...I was on duty with Leo and Nico," she started.

Leo. That was another thing.

When he was on watch, she could sometimes hear his footsteps above, or the sound of his laugh.

Things, admittedly, were weird between them. She wanted to tell him everything she felt about him. A little voice of doubt always stopped her, made her second guess herself. She would open her mouth to speak and then..._nothing_.

It obviously wasn't the best time either. Everyone had been coping with Percy and Annabeth's departure differently- albeit, all terribly. Leo had gotten angrier, hardly sleeping. Some nights, Rosie could hear him stomp into his room to grab a tool, slamming the door on his way out.

And yet, sometimes there were these moments. Moments where he would grin at her from across the mess hall table, or tap out Morse code messages on her door in the morning. Things where she didn't know if it was special, or maybe she was just reading into everything.

"Rosie?" Hazel was saying. "Are you alright?"

Shit.

"Sorry, yeah- what were you saying?"

"Well…" Hazel trailed off, unsure of how to continue. A small smile appeared on her face. "Arion appeared."

"Arion? Your horse?"

She nodded.

Rosie couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy. She hadn't seen Karey since December...before that, it had been almost three years. "Oh. Well- what was up with him?" She wasn't sure why Hazel was here, talking with her. As the time drew on, she was getting more and more nervous.

Hazel chewed her lip thoughtfully. "We found a route, you know- to get to Epirus." She sighed, fidgeting with a piece of her hair nervously. "I-I ran into the goddess Hecate. Arion took me to her."

Rosie blinked at her. "Sorry, you're going to have to jog my memory." Surprisingly, a _Jeopardy _category of gods and goddesses wouldn't be her strong suit.

"Goddess of Magic. She, uh, has a secret pass for us. To get through to Italy."

Rosie still didn't know where this was going. She could feel her eyelids drooping. "A goddess actually helping us? That...doesn't sound right." Usually, the goddesses were the ones trying to kill them.

"She wants us to go through the pass, north to Bologna, and then to Venice. From there we can sail the Adriatic to Epirus."

She hoped she wasn't being told this because maybe, the _Argo_ crew viewed her as Percy's replacement. She knew with certainty that she could never come close to being like Percy.

"Baloney? Why is she sending us to a deli meat?"

"Bologna," Hazel corrected. "She...she said to find a thief and two dwarves in Bologna- said they could help us. That they could help us survive the rest of our journey."

Rosie gulped. "Why are you telling me this? Maybe you should wake up Jason or Coach or…" _Anyone but me._

"I need your help, Rosie."

"Help," Rosie repeated flatly. What could she possibly help anyone with? After all, she was the one with the death sentence looming over her head- she was the one to cause her brother to fall into Tartarus.

"I need you to teach me how to control the Mist." Hazel's eyes grew wide with pleading.

The request took her by so much surprise that for a second, she said nothing. She sat there, playing with the loose thread on her blanket.

"I...I don't know how I can help you with that, Hazel," she admitted.

"Hecate said I already have some of the magic within me- you just have to help me harness it. She says it'll be easy for you to teach me how to control it."

"I can't."

"You can, though," Hazel insisted. "You already know how to do it- Chiron taught you, right? Hecate said it had to be you- she said we could help one another. I know she's right. I know this'll work out."

"Work out, huh?" Rosie asked bitterly. "Just like the whole Athena Parthenos thing worked out?" The minute the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. She had noticed a shift in herself since Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus- she was spiteful. She had found herself snapping at her friends, even when she didn't mean to.

Rosie sighed. "I'm sorry," she started. "I…"

Hazel grabbed her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. "I miss them too," she said softly. "But they'll be okay, Rosie- they will survive. You've got to stop blaming yourself."

Nights were when the ugly thoughts entered- thoughts that it should've been _her_ who fell into Tartarus. She knew Gaea had a vendetta against Reiger children- she should've just finished what she had started so long ago with Max.

Max. Percy. Her entire body ached with sorrow.

"I'll teach you," Rosie said weakly.

A faint smile appeared on Hazel's face. "You will?"

"You have much to learn, grasshopper," Rosie said in her best Chiron impression, trying to plaster a smile on her face. "You will be my prodigy."


	2. Meetings, Munchkins, and Monkeys

**radoddish- this story is overall gonna be prettyyy angsty at times haha**

* * *

Nico DiAngelo terrified her.

There was something about him that Rosie couldn't quite trust. It was undeniable that there was ...a darkness surrounding him.

Also, he had a tendency to quietly sneak up on people, giving her a heart attack every time. She had already broken two mugs just from him quietly appearing behind her, causing her to drop them.

She glanced at him at the other side of the mess hall table. He was moodily chewing some bacon, his eyes never once lifting up from his plate. Once in a while, he would play with the skull ring on his finger.

Her eyes lifted to the images behind him- real-life images of Camp Half-Blood. Nobody said it, but these images were only getting more and more upsetting. The sun had just come up here, almost in Bologna, while it was the middle of the night at Camp. They truly were in two different worlds.

It occurred to her that they had missed the Fourth of July- she could see some lingering streamers on the beach at camp.

Leo stumbled into the mess hall, clusimly knocking over of the chairs. He cursed loudly, picking it up and plopping himself down in it.

Everyone was there except for Piper and Coach- they were currently on duty.

"Alright," Jason said, clearing his throat. He tiredly rubbed his eyes from the head of the table. "So we took Hecate's detour, and we should reach Bologna soon."

"I still don't like it," Frank admitted, his leg nervously bouncing and jostling the table from underneath. Rosie bit her tongue, deciding not to say anything. "Can we trust this goddess lady?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know how else we would've gotten through."

Nico took a sip of his orange juice, setting it down softly. "So I communed with the dead last night."

Rosie choked on her eggs, causing Frank to whack her on the back. She spit out her food, gagging. Leo gave her a look of concern.

"Sorry-" she choked out, avoiding Nico's glare. "Sorry, please continue. Don't mind me."

"Right." Nico's face soured. "I was able to learn a little more about what's waiting for us in Greece. The House of Hades was a major site for Greek pilgrims- a place to speak with the dead and honor their ancestors."

Leo frowned. "Sounds like Dia de los Muertos. My uh, Aunt Rosa was into that stuff."

She didn't know much about Aunt Rosa, only that she hated that lady's guts.

Frank nodded. "The Chinese have that too- ancestor worship. Your aunt would've gotten along with my grandmother."

Leo laughed humorlessly. "Oh yeah, man, they would've been besties!"

"The House of Hades was year-round," Nico continued quietly. "Pilgrims could actually speak to ghosts. In Greek, the place was called the Necromanteion, the Oracle of Death. You'd work your way through different levels, leaving offerings and drinking special potions-"

Yeah, that was enough of the coffee.

"They...they believed that each level of the temple brought you closer to the Underworld, until the dead would appear before you. If they were pleased with your offerings, they would answer your questions, maybe even tell you the future."

Frank took a sip of his hot chocolate, wincing at the temperature. "Um, what if they weren't pleased?"

"Some pilgrims found nothing," Nico said. "Some went insane or died. Others lost their way in tunnels and were never seen again."

Rosie let out a panicked yelp. "Wait-"

"Point is," Jason spoke over her loudly. "Nico has some information that could help us."

"The ghost I spoke to last night...was a former priest of Hecate. He confirmed what the goddess told Hazel yesterday. In the first war with the giants, Hecate fought for the gods. She slew one of the giants- the _anti_\- Hecate. Clytius- he'll probably be guarding the doors of Death."

"Dark dude," Leo muttered knowingly. "Wrapped in shadows?"

Hazel whipped around to look at Leo. "How do you know that?"

"Dream," He said softly.

She was happy that at least, Leo was getting some sleep.

"There was also some witch lady in my dream. Sounded like she'd be there in the House of Hades."

"She's my problem," Hazel said miserably. Damn- that probably meant she was Rosie's too. "Hecate mentioned an enemy to deal with in the House of Hades- one defeated by magic."

"Uh, do you know magic?" Leo asked suspiciously.

"No- it's okay, though. Rosie's going to teach me."

Leo looked at Rosie. "You are?"

She shrugged. "I am."

Leo's eyebrows jumped up. "Man, you go to sleep one time-"

"I do have some good news," Nico jumped in. "The ghost explained how Hecate defeated Clytius in the first war. She used torches to set his hair on fire. He burned to death. In other words, fire is his weakness."

As everyone turned to Leo, Rosie blushed. Seems like fire, too, was her weakness.

Leo shifted uncomfortably from all the eyes staring at him. "Oh. Okay."

"It's a start," Jason tried to muster enthusiasm. "We know how to kill the giant. This sorceress...has nothing on Hazel."

Hazel shot him an appreciative smile.

"So, basically," Frank said. "We have to reach the House of Hades, battle through Gaea's forces-"

"Don't forget the army she's raising up," Rosie piped in. "An army of people like us- demigods."

"Ghosts," Nico added. "Ghosts as well. The temple spirits may not be friendly."

"All of this is contingent on getting there the same time as Percy and Annabeth," Hazel muttered.

"We will," Frank insisted. "We have to."

"So, I'm estimating four or five days to reach Epirus," Leo said. "Of course, assuming no delays from anyone trying to kill us."

Jason snorted, as Rosie smirked. "Yeah," Jason said. "Those never happen."

Leo glanced at Hazel. "Didn't Hecate tell you that Gaea was planning her wake-up party on August first? On the feast of-"

"Spes," Hazel answered. "Goddess of hope."

Jason gulped, fidgeting with his fork. "That should be enough time- it's only July 5th. We should be able to close the Doors of Death, find the Giant's headquarters, and stop them from waking Gaea before August first."

"One thing," Rosie piped up. "Minor thing- I'd like to know how we're going to go through the temple without going insane or dying."

For a second, no one spoke.

"Back in China," Frank volunteered unhelpfully. "The people called the seventh month the _ghost _month."

"Okay, _Zhang_-"

Jason placed his hands firmly on the table. "Okay, let's just focus on the things we can deal with. We're almost in Bologna-"

The ship lurched as if it had hit an iceberg. Nico fell backwards out of his chair, banging his head and collapsing onto the floor.

"Nico!" Hazel screamed.

Frank attempted to stand, but the ship pitched in the other direction. He stumbled, landing face-first in Rosie's scrambled eggs.

"_Aw, Frank, I was eating those!_"

"Look!" Jason pointed to the walls, where the enchanted images were flickering and changing.

"That's not possible!" Leo yelled, panicked.

Suddenly, a huge, distorted face appeared: crooked teeth, scraggly red beard, warty nose, and beady eyes. The walls flickered again, showing Piper on the deck. She was wrapped in duct tape, her mouth and legs both bound. Similarly, Coach was also bound, a gnome, monkey-like creature dancing around him.

The creature was dancing around with some things in its hands. With a start, she realized that those were _their things_. Leo's Wii controllers, Piper's dagger- they had raided the ship.

The creature pried the Archimedes sphere out of the command console.

"No!" Leo yelled.

"Piper!" Jason exclaimed.

"Are those _monkeys_?!" Frank cried.

Rosie rolled her eyes at him. "In what world are those monkeys?!"

"Dwarves," Hazel grumbled.

"They're stealing my stuff!" Leo yelled, running for the stairs.

Rosie didn't hesitate- she bounded up behind him, Jason and Frank on her tail.

Currently, one of the dwarves was swinging what appeared to be an article of clothing of Piper's over its head, laughing gleefully. He was only four feet tall, wearing extremely loud clothes- green plaid pants and a polka-dotted blouse.

Where was the other one?

Leo's eyes suddenly became wide. "Duck!" He screamed.

Rosie threw herself down just as the explosion went off.

She winced at the ringing in her ears, cursing Leo's stupid hobby to tinker with grenades. She couldn't get up- she felt her muscles tighten. Vaguely, she was aware of a dwarf leaping over her and onto Leo, where he gracefully whipped off Leo's belt.

Rosie shakily got up, tripping over her feet. Clumsily, she stumbled over to Piper. Jason was behind her, running into things and cursing. Frank, for some inexplicable reason, had turned into a gorilla, one that was currently passed out on deck.

The dwarves both giggled, high-fiving one another.

Rosie reached Piper, pulling the rope gag out of her mouth.

"They took my pajama shirt!" Piper spat out angrily.

"_What_?!" Rosie asked.

"They took my wilderness gym shirt! I sleep in that!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dwarves entering the ballista, shooting themselves down into Bologna.

"Dude, why do you still have that?!"

"It's comfy! You don't?!"

"Pretty sure I burned it the day we got out of there!" Rosie exclaimed, cutting Piper loose.

"Bastards!" Jason exclaimed, getting up for the fifth time. "Stupid...stupid munchkins!"

Rosie glared at him. "Don't bring munchkins into this!"

Jason sighed. "Are we really going to get into this now-"

"Come on!" Leo snapped, grabbing Piper's arm. "We're going down there!"

Jason flew them down into Bologna, a sprawling city of red-tilted buildings in a valley hemmed by green hills.

They were in a cobbled square, a nearby bakery making Rosie's stomach grumble.

She was about to suggest giving up and grabbing a baguette instead when Piper pointed, exclaiming, "Look! There they go!"

Sure enough, the two dwarves were about fifteen feet ahead of the, scurrying while their arms were laden with things. The dwarves grinned back at them, splitting up at a fork in the road, going two opposite directions.

"You guys take the left!" Leo shouted at her and Piper, grabbing Jason by the arm. "Jason, come on!" The two of them ran away, disappearing to the right.

In times like these, she really missed having a functional dragon around.

Piper began running, pausing when she realized Rosie's hesitation. "Rosie!" she yelled, gesturing for her to follow. "Come on!"

Rosie peered at the bakery. "But the baguettes…" she offered weakly.

Piper groaned, dragging her by the arm. "Let's go!"

The two of them ducked to the left, following the dwarf down a spindling path. Her calves burned- she imagined Coach yelling at her to go faster. _Come on, Reiger! I want to see you sweat!_

"I see him!" Piper shouted, increasing her speed.

The dwarf had stopped, bouncing excitedly on his heels. A figure appeared out of one of the alleys, a dark hooded cloak concealing their face. Rosie saw a hand reach out to the dwarf, the dwarf passing him Piper's t-shirt and Leo's belt.

"What-" Piper started.

_BOOM._

Rosie felt a giant force knock her onto her back, a grunt of pain coming out of her as she fell back onto the cobbled pathway. She heard Piper scream, but couldn't see her- the sun from above blinded her.

As the buzzing in her ears subsided, she heard a boy's voice.

"You don't belong here."


	3. Riff rat, Street rat

**radoddish- you mayyy be onto something!**

**SEASBLU- haha sorry, i love the cliffhangers!**

**MilkandCheez- haha i know yall have! i thank everyone for their patience! hopefully the waiting is worth it lol**

* * *

A figure appeared overhead. Once her eyes adjusted, she could make out his features: he was tall, with coppery skin and deadly-looking grey eyes. His hair was jet black and unkempt- it nearly covered his eyes. He scowled down at Rosie and Piper.

"You heard me," He said in a warning tone. "Get out of here before I change my mind about killing you."

This made Rosie furious- she quickly stood up, her world spinning. She glared at the guy. "Are you serious? You steal from our ship, then try to kill us in an explosion, and _you're_ m_ad at us?"_

The boy rolled his eyes. "I didn't steal from your ship. Did you see me on the ship?"

Piper scoffed, getting up. "So you're telling us you're didn't send those dwarves?"

"Nope." The boy's mouth twitched into a smirk. "Me and the dwarves have...an understanding."

Rosie glanced around, suddenly confused at the place they were in. They were tucked away in an alleyway, in some sort of hidden space. This hidden nook...looked like someone's home...but thrown together. Old rugs under their feet, tarps covering the holes in walls, a small pile of pillows and a worn out mattress for a bed. And stuff- so much stuff, probably stolen stuff, littering the room. On the wall was one single phrase painted on: _EX NIHILO_.

"What are you, a street rat?" Rosie asked, having a sudden craving to watch _Aladdin._

Piper suddenly went pale, glancing at the boy's arm. "We have to go," she said urgently, looking at Rosie.

The boy looked pleased. "Good idea."

Rosie followed her gaze, gasping as she saw what was on the boy's arm. It was the Roman SPQR tattoo.

Rosie drew her dagger, holding it out protectively in front of her and Piper. "How the hell are you here? Did Reyna send you?"

For the first time, the boy let his guard down, and Rosie knew from his face that he knew Reyna. But it wasn't a look of knowing- it was a look of pure shock.

Piper picked up on this. "Your face," she said. "You're with the Romans."

The boy laughed humorlessly, inspecting Leo's tool belt. Piper's t-shirt was slung over his shoulder.

"No," he said bitterly. "I am not Roman. And I don't know who you are, but I suggest you get the hell out of here."

"No," Piper said stubbornly. "Not without our stuff."

Reyna was clearly a touchy subject for him. Rosie couldn't help but look at the boy, and know that he was hiding something.

Her conversation with Jason once they landed in Rome popped into her head. It couldn't be. Could it?

A wave of pure understanding washed over her.

The boy glared at Piper. "Listen, _sweetie_, it's not my fault you lost your stuff-"

"Grant," Rosie blurted out, the name popping into her head. "You're Grant."

The boy looked at her with pain in his eyes, and Rosie knew she was right.

"And who," he huffed out, "the hell are you?"

"Wait," Piper said slowly. "You know the street urchin?"

Grant raised his eyebrows with an amused look on his face. "Street urchin?"

"Shut up," Piper snapped at him. Piper looked at her. "What's going on?"

Rosie studied Grant, who crossed his arms and stared stubbornly back at her. There were so many questions going through her head: how did Grant get here? How did he survive one of the most dangerous places for a demigod? She also felt angry on Jason's behalf- he thought his friend was _dead_ this entire time.

She glared at him. "Give us our stuff back."

"No. Mine now."

"Is that how you got all this stuff?" Rosie asked, gesturing around. "By stealing?" What Hazel told her popped into her head. Hecate's words: find a thief and two dwarves in Bologna.

"I do what I can to survive," Grant snapped.

"What the hell is going on?" Piper exclaimed.

Forget about Hecate. "Trust me, you don't want to know him," Rosie growled, ripping Leo's belt out of his hands. "This belongs to us."

Rosie looked down at her hands, and did a double take as she realized the belt was gone. She looked back up to see Grant smirking at her, the tool belt back in his hands.

"What the hell?"

"You're a Son of Hermes," Piper said, staring at him with scrutiny.

"Mercury," he corrected.

"Same difference!" Rosie exclaimed.

Grant snorted. "Whatever, pipsqueak," he said, looking down at Rosie.

"It's _Rosie Reiger. _Height joke- really original," Rosie said, rolling her eyes.

Piper groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Why, _why_ would you tell him your name?"

"Got anything better?" Grant asked Rosie, a challenge in his tone.

"Yeah!" She shot back with a snarl. "Um...just give me a second to think." She cursed her ability to be on her feet.

"Seriously," Piper said. "You two know each other or what?"

"He knows Jason," Rosie said.

Grant looked surprised again. "Jason Grace? What's he doing hanging out with two _Greeks_?"

She thought it was weird Grant knew that- also weird, he didn't seem surprised about the two of them being Greek.

"Hey, being Greek is better than being Roman," Piper shot back.

"Got to say, I'm not a fan of either," Grant said, rolling his eyes again.

"Let's just get out of here," Rosie said, giving up.

"No," Piper said, standing up straighter. "We're not letting this ass win."

"Ass?" Grant smirked. "Am I an ass because I'm actually being one, or because I know who is _presumably_ your boyfriend and you don't like his Roman background?"

"Shut up," Piper hissed defensively. "Stop talking like you know me."

"You're easy to read, Piper McLean. Let me guess, you're a daughter of Venus."

Piper jerked back. "How do you know my name?"

Grant peered inside the t-shirt he was holding. "Maybe don't label your clothing."

Piper let out a loud noise of aggravation. "God, you are _infuriating_!"

"I'm touched, really. Not that I'm not loving this conversation, but it's time for me to move on with my day. Get out of my sight before I hand you off to the nearest monster."

"Yeah, well, we ought to have you arrested!" Rosie exclaimed. "Roman...outlaw."

Grant looked at Piper. "She doesn't get out much, does she?"

Piper shook her head, the faintest of smiles on her face. "Not so much." Piper's face went slack. "She's right, though- your ego can't hide the fact that you must have done something wrong. We know the rules- Romans aren't supposed to go overseas."

"You know _nothing_," Grant snapped venomously. "And by the sound of this conversation, I feel like golden boy Grace must have broken the rules as well."

"You're a jerk," Piper told him. "I don't know your story or how you know Jason, but I'm guessing that the fact that you're here _alone _living off the scraps of others means that no one can stand you."

"Fiery, I like it," Grant said smugly.

"Stop that!" Rosie couldn't believe it - was Piper blushing? "You're not special just because you can steal stuff. Who cares? I could steal something just as easily as you._ I stole a BMW_!"

"Guess what, Piper McLean. The son of Mercury does this sort of stuff for a living."

"Yeah, well, Grant..." Piper paused. "I don't know your last name, I used to do this stuff all the time!"

Rosie was gearing up for a fight between the two.

"Um, guys-" she started.

"Really?" Grant's eyebrows were raised. "Too bad I'm immune to charmspeak. You, however, may not be immune to my charm." He winked at Piper, whose face soured.

"Roman Jerk!" Rosie finally exclaimed, pointing at him. "That's what I'm gonna call you."

"You _are _a Roman Jerk!" Piper nodded her head.

"Are we done here, ladies?"

"_No_, we're not," Rosie replied stoutly, stepping forward. "I want that tool belt back."

"And my t-shirt!" Piper roared.

"Finders keepers."

"What is this, the second grade?"

"You tell me," Grant said, holding the tool belt over his head.

In futile attempts, Rosie tried jumping to reach it, unable to do so.

"He's tall," Rosie muttered to Piper suspiciously, glaring at Grant.

"Annoyingly so," Piper replied.

Grant smirked at them. "I wish you a good day," He said. "I mean, there's no way the two of you and your little crew are going to survive past today, but still, the sentiment stands."

"Oh, yeah?" Piper asked. "And how exactly have you done it?"

"That's the type of question reserved for people I like- which, _wow_! Doesn't include you two."

Piper shook her head. "I can't believe you. You know- you are just _sad._"

"And you can't help but love every bit of me," Grant shot back with a lopsided smile.

Holy shit- Grant was kind of attractive. But a jerk. How utterly confusing. She looked over at Piper, whose cheeks were red.

Piper narrowed her eyes at him. A smile surprisingly appeared on her face. "Right. I suppose you have your good qualities, Grant. Right, Rosie? Isn't Grant just amazing?"

Rosie couldn't believe what she was thinking- but suddenly, she found herself nodding. "Yeah, Grant, you're awesome!"

"He has so many great qualities, right, Rosie?"

"Yeah!" Rosie yelled enthusiastically. For some reason, all she wanted to do was praise Grant the Roman Jerk. "You've got a great setup here, you should look into studying interior design."

Grant paused. "What?"

Piper shrugged apologetically. "Sorry about her. She just loves complimenting people. Don't you, Rosie?"

"Your height-just _wow_, Grant. You're so tall," Rosie mused.

Grant paused, a moment of confusion for him. Piper took this as her opportunity, quickly swiping Leo's tool belt.

"Hey!" Grant exclaimed.

Piper smirked. "Finders keepers."

Grant raised his eyebrows at Piper. "You used your incredibly annoying friend to distract me."

"Hey!" Rosie protested.

"Well played, Piper McLean. I admire that. You're smart."

He was right- Rosie didn't even mind that her friend used charmspeak on her. It was pretty badass.

Piper scoffed. "Yeah, well, you're dumb, Grant.." She paused, an embarrassed look on her face. "Will you please tell us your last name?"

"Nope!"

Piper narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine. Then I want this- I want to know you ended up here, Grant."

Grant paused for a second, studying Piper. "Fine," He said. "We'll call it a trade- you tell me your story, I'll tell you mine."

"Deal," Piper said.

Rosie looked at her best friend in shock- this was going to be interesting.

"Well," Grant said, flopping himself down on a tattered chair and putting his legs up on a small table. "Ladies first."

"I'm not sitting," Piper said stubbornly.

Grant shrugged. "Alright," He said. He turned to Rosie. "Chair's all yours."

Rosie's legs hurt- she shot Piper an apologetic look as she sat down.

Piper sighed, launching into their story- all of it, leading up to Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus. Rosie knew she should interject with what Hecate said- it was clear Grant the Roman Jerk was supposed to help them somehow. But she said nothing- just watched Grant. Grant listened intently, hardly reacting to all the twists thrown throughout, simply nodding.

When she finished, Grant leaned back into his seat, staring at Piper. Piper looked a little unsettled by this, not quite looking him in the eye.

He finally spoke. "You and Jason, huh?"

Piper scoffed. "Is that really all you got from this?"

He shrugged. "It's a simple question."

Piper's mouth twisted into a sour expression. "What, is it because I'm not Reyna? Jason deserves someone more like her?" Instantly, Piper had exposed her insecurity- that she could never be enough for Jason.

Grant looked taken back. "No," Grant said simply. "You are like Reyna. You both have...a fire in you. Jason has a type."

Piper's eyes went wide, but she seemed slightly pleased. "Oh. Well. Thanks."

Rosie looked at Grant suspiciously. "You're taking this pretty well. We...we didn't know about your camp at first. And...the Romans didn't know about ours."

Grant shrugged. "I've seen things. Nothing really surprises me."

Rosie wasn't buying it.

"So what about you, then?" Piper asked. "How did you end up here?"

Rosie glared at Grant. "I can tell you what I know," she said. "He was there in Charleston."

Piper laughed bitterly.

"Charleston," she said flatly. "Really hate that place."

"You and me both," Grant admitted. "You know the story so well, Rosie, why don't _you_ tell it?"

Man, Grant _was_ a jerk. "You went on a mission with Jason, Reyna, and someone named Calla. You guys went to excavate Imperial gold from the Hunley museum, and...Calla tried to control the dead Confederate soldiers."

Grant nodded, his jaw set. "Daughter of Mars."

"You loved her," Piper commented softly, observing Grant's face.

"I've loved a lot of things, Piper McLean."

"And...Calla died," Rosie continued. "Jason...Jason made you guys leave her behind. He-he made you leave."

Grant's expression became unreadable. "That's what he told you?"

"Yes."

Piper looked at Grant. "Is that true?"

Grant nodded silently.

"You left," Rosie commented. "You didn't want to go back to camp."

Grant nodded. "I left."

"How did you get here, though? How have you've survived in one of the most dangerous places for a demigod?" Piper asked. "And why would you do it willingly? You know you're considered an outlaw now."

Grant snorted softly. "Camp..." he spat out. "That place wasn't my home anymore. I could never go back, knowing what I did."

Rosie frowned. "It wasn't Jason's fault-"

"Rosie, let him talk," Piper said quietly.

"I decided to go to the one place they would never find me, let alone look for me. I snuck onto a mortal cargo ship."

Piper frowned. "Didn't you attract monsters once you reached the Mare Nostrum? That's...pretty dangerous for mortals."

"The Mist is a powerful thing. How do you think no mortal has found this place?" he asked, gesturing around.

"So you ran into no problems?"

He shook his head curtly. "I didn't say that. The monsters left the mortals alone for the most part. Me, however..." He grimaced. "Yeah, the Mare Nostrum wasn't fun."

Piper nodded. "We ran into Chrysaor recently."

Grant broke out into a grin. She decided a smile suited him- made him look less jerk-like. "That old bastard," he said.

"You know him?"

Grant gestured to the wall, where a golden sword was hanging. "Swiped that off of him."

Rosie's mouth dropped, somewhat impressed. "No freaking way."

He smirked. "I've got a way with dolphins."

Piper narrowed her eyes at him. "No way you've survived on your own."

"Partially true," he said. "After all, I'm friends with the dwarves."

"Birds of a feather," Rosie muttered.

"They swipe things for me in exchange for food," Grant said. "I let them keep some of the things, too. Most of them just want someone to talk to."

Piper scoffed. "What about monsters?"

Grant scowled. "I know my way around a sword. Most monsters don't even bother with one son of Mercury."

"I...I just can't believe this."

"It's not completely unheard of," Grant said. "There are more of us out there, you know."

"What? You mean like demigods?"

He nodded. "Guess I'm not the only one who got fed up with the Roman life."

"Why don't you join with them, then? Have some allies?"

Grant shook his head. "You don't get to ask me that."

Piper opened her mouth to angrily respond. Rosie quickly jumped to speak first. "There's more of you? And you don't like the Romans? You-you could help us!" Maybe this was what Hecate meant- Grant could help them fight Gaea's forces.

"What?"

"We need allies! You...you obviously have power and you're _somewhat_ convincing. Help us, Grant," Rosie pleaded, knowing it was hopeless. "Raise an army up for us- send the dwarves after the Romans...anything."

Grant shook his head. "Sorry, I don't help my people anymore...that doesn't mean I'm going to start helping you Greeks."

"The Greeks are better than you think, dude. _We have Greek yogurt_!"

Grant laughed humorlessly. "Well in that case-"

"Why won't you help us?" Piper asked angrily.

"Because it isn't my battle to fight!" Grant snapped.

"It affects every demigod! I don't care if you don't think you're Roman anymore-"

"I've created a pretty good life for myself here, and I'm not about to wreck it for two strangers-"

"Do it for Jason then!" Piper cried. "Calla's death wasn't his fault, god, how _selfish_ are you?! You just abandoned Reyna and Jason, and have the _nerve _to be mad at them-"

"I never said who I was mad at," Grant said coldly.

"What the hell does that mean?" Piper snapped. "You promised to tell us."

Grant hesitated. "What Jason told you about Calla," he said. "That's not what happened."

Piper and Rosie exchanged confused looks.

Grant took an angry breath. "God, Reyna and Jason were my best friends, of course I didn't want to leave them-"

"What happened then?!" Piper exclaimed, stomping her foot.

Grant was glowering at them; Rosie could clearly see the pain on his face, reliving his trauma. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Just admit it- you left them. They were grieving a friend too, you know-"

"_I left because I didn't want to forget what happened to her!"_

"Whoa," Rosie said, holding her hands up. There was a palpable tension in the air. "Okay, both of you, calm down. Grant...what do you mean by that?"

Grant was angry- she could tell by the venom in his eyes. "At Charleston, we ran into three girls. Both wearing orange t-shirts."

Piper and Rosie exchanged shocked looks. "What..."

"Two were children of Minerva, the other Venus. Except, they weren't Roman."

"They were Greek," Piper finished.

Grant nodded. "They were Greek," he said. "We were...all a little shocked."

"Wait- hold up," Rosie said. "Chiron told us that the two camps hardly ran into one another- and when they did, it was never good. It would lead to the gods getting involved."

Grant sighed. "You're not very patient."

"Whatever- go ahead."

"We sat down and talked to them. Swapped stories- slowly it started making sense for us, that there were two camps on opposite sides of the country. Jason and Reyna were a little...suspicious. I remember that they thought it was a trap- both of them were pretty jumpy on that quest. The prophecy we'd gotten wasn't exactly great..." he trailed off. "Anyways- Calla was thrilled. We knew from ancient times that Romans had never gotten along with Greeks, knew of legends like the one of the Athenian Parthenos. She...she wanted to bring the camps together- wanted peace."

Grant winced. "Calla wasn't...like most children of Mars," he said. "She...had trouble getting into the Roman mindset. A lot of camp underestimated her; thought she was weak. She thought it would be her big chance to prove everyone wrong..."

"But it wasn't," Piper said glumly.

"No...no, it wasn't," Grant agreed. "With seven demigods in one place, we were bound to attract some negative attention. That's when the confederates came..." Grant proudly smiled. "My girl held her own-those soldiers didn't know what hit them."

Rosie felt herself clench up. "So she did succeed controlling the soldiers."

"Damn right she did. We were ready to go to Long Island- they wanted us to meet with Chiron."

Piper looked incredibly distraught.

Grant looked at her. "And then, your boyfriend's father showed up." Grant snorted. "And he was not happy at all."


	4. Ex Nihilo

**radoddish- zeus is the worst...i said what i said !**

* * *

"Keep talking," Piper ordered quietly, a dark tone in her voice. "Tell us what Zeus did."

Grant was staring at the ground, an unreadable look on his face. "This little quest of yours...the gods _knew_ it was going to happen...Greeks and Romans coexisting together. It couldn't happen beforehand, though- we were messing with their timeline."

Grant glanced at the phrase written on his wall: _EX NIHILO. _He took a labored breath. "He scolded us, told us we had to come with him- we had to get our minds wiped. Forget about it happening…"

Rosie uneasily thought about Hera- how she made them feel like Jason had been friends with them their time at Wilderness.

"So…." Piper took a shaky breath. "I'm guessing he didn't erase your memory."

Grant nodded. "No," he said softly. "Calla stood up to Zeus."

Piper shot him a small smile. "I like this girl."

Rosie nodded in agreement. "I do, too."

Grant smiled, a far-away look in his eyes. "Looking back at it, she was the bravest out of all of us. I wish ...I wish I stood up with her. Maybe if I had…" he paused. "Zeus killed her. He needed to send a message."

Piper went pale. "Oh god. Jason…" she muttered. "Jason thinks it's his fault, doesn't he?"

Grant shrugged. "The Mist is a powerful thing. Reyna and Jason...they don't know what actually happened. I don't even know what happened to those girls."

"But you got away," Rosie said to him.

He nodded. "I did," he said. "And I've never looked back- can't do that when the god of the sky is out for me."

Rosie snorted. "If it makes you feel any better, Zeus hates me too."

Grant smirked. "We'll start a club."

"Is that why you're alone?" Piper asked quietly. "Why you don't reach out to anyone for help? You're scared he'll find you?"

He shook his head. "I don't care if he kills me," he said. "I just need to remember what he did to Calla- what he did to us. I can't forget. If I forget...he wins."

"You have to tell Jason."

Grant shook his head. "No," he said. "I'm not telling Jason that his father, the god our camp is _named after_, killed our best friend. Not happening."

"Grant," Piper pleaded. "He needs to know. Jason blames himself for enough. He didn't even have a childhood- Zeus or Jupiter or whatever doesn't change the fact that he doesn't _care _about Jason."

"I think he's right, Piper," Rosie said quietly.

"What?"

Rosie took a breath. "Jason already is unsure how he feels about being Roman- this might push him off the edge." She was already the resident cynic, God-hater on the quest; they didn't need another- not right now.

"Not the great praetor anymore, huh," Grant said softly.

Rosie shot him a look. "He's been through a lot- no thanks to you people. He's so much more than just a praetor."

Grant scoffed. "I've known him since I was six- you don't think I know that?"

"He's a different person now," she snapped at him.

"Not telling Jason doesn't change one thing," Piper spoke up. "Hecate said you're supposed to help us. It's fate."

Grant snorted. "See, that's the thing. There is _no _such thing as fate. The gods have their plan, and we're just puppets who act it out. It's a fixed timeline, Piper."

The sad thing was, Rosie almost agreed with him.

"None of us asked for this," Piper snapped. "At least we're trying to do something good with the lives we were given."

"We've lost two of our friends," Rosie said to him, a sob getting caught in her throat. "All I want is to sit and do _nothing_, but we can't."

Grant was silent for a moment. "I am sorry about your friends," he said honestly. She knew that he probably understood a thing or two about losing friends.

She glanced over at Piper, who was also getting teary-eyed.

"If it's any consolation," he said. "I'm supposed to be dead, and yet here I am. They could be fine." Grant produced a tissue, handing it to Piper.

Piper took it from him, shooting him an appreciative look before dabbing her eyes.

A sudden squawk came from the distance, causing Grant to jump up, hand on sword. His eyes became wide with alarm.

"What-what was that?" Piper asked fearfully.

Grant walked over to a window, glancing outside. "_Shit_," he cursed. "You two have to leave."

"What?"

"Stymphalian bird," Grant muttered. "They're always flocking over from Greece."

Another angry squawk.

"No chance you're friends with them?" Rosie asked hopefully.

"No," he admitted, pulling his sword out of its hilt. "I suggest you go back to your ship."

Piper paused. "But what-"

A curtain was sliced to shreds as an enormous, ugly bird swooped in, baring its talons. Grant quickly pushed Piper to the ground, pulling his sword out.

Rosie knelt down next to Piper on the ground, army-crawling towards the exit.

Grant was a good fighter- seemed like every Roman was. He moved fluidly, dodging and weaving through the bird's attack. She felt like she was watching Jason fight- it was the Roman way.

"Be careful!" Rosie yelled.

"No shit!" He yelled back.

With one fluid movement, he sliced it, the bird exploding into a fine yellow dust.

The sound of more squawks rose from the distance.

"Go!" Grant yelled to them.

The two of them didn't need to be told twice- they ran out, Grant on their tails. They ran back down the alleyway, towards where the ship had let them off.

"Hold it!" Grant said at one point, pulling them to the side.

"What?" Rosie exclaimed.

He handed her Leo's tool belt. "Here," He said.

Rosie gave him a shocked look. "Uh, thanks."

Grant held out Piper's t-shirt to her. "I'm sorry," he stated.

Piper looked at the t-shirt. "Keep it," she said quietly.

"No, come on. It's yours, take it back."

She shook her head. "Consider it a trade," she said.

Grant went silent for a moment. "Okay," He said.

"You could come with us," Piper blurted out.

Rosie shot her a confused look. They did not discuss bringing Grant the Roman Jerk anywhere.

Grant blushed. "No, I don't think I can."

"You'd be safe with us," Piper told him. "We could use another person. And Jason- you could see Jason again."

"From what you tell me," Grant said weakly. "He doesn't sound like my best friend anymore."

Okay, that was enough to pull at anyone's heartstrings.

Piper chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Be safe?"

"I always am."

The birds were getting closer.

"You guys should go," Grant said softly.

"What does _Ex Nihilo _mean?" Piper asked suddenly.

"Out of nothing."

Out of nothing.

Wasn't that how it was for all of them? They all had come to this point from out of nothing.

Piper nodded at this. "We'll see you around, Grant." She looked at Rosie. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Rosie finally said. "I'm right behind you."

Piper began running away.

Rosie glanced at Grant.

"I know what it's like to feel jaded because of the gods," she told him. "All I'm telling you is that isolating yourself is the worst thing you could do for yourself in the long run."

People needed people- she didn't know where she would be without the crew of the _Argo II_. All she knew was that she was so beyond blessed to have all of them- even Frank, whom she constantly tormented. Grant had no one.

Grant said nothing, giving her a curt nod and one final look before walking away.

* * *

A tangible wave of relief washed over the cabin hall of the _Argo II_ as Rosie and Piper appeared. Rosie's heart wouldn't stop thumping- they had learned _way _too much today.

"Thank god!" Hazel cried, hugging Piper tightly. "What happened to you two?"

Piper said nothing, shooting Rosie a look.

"Um…." Rosie started.

Leo was pacing the hallway, looking incredibly frustrated. "Unbelievable," he muttered. "Don't do that again!"

"Seriously," Jason said, shaking his head. "What happened to you guys out there? Leo and I have been back for half an hour…"

"Um," she repeated.

Frank gave her an odd look, Nico at his shoulder, staring her down.

"You've never not had anything to say," Frank said, giving her a suspicious look.

"Okay, not true-"

"Can I talk to you?" Piper asked Jason, an angry look on her face.

Jason looked puzzled, but nodded. "Sure."

The two of them went into Piper's cabin, shutting the door behind them.

An awkward silence fell as the sound of Jason and Piper gradually rose, their hushed tones become more and more angry. Rosie felt the heat rush into her cheeks as time went on.

She exchanged an uneasy look with Leo. Despite the weirdness between them, these were their friends fighting.

"What...what happened out there? Did you guys run into more dwarves?" Leo asked Rosie, as everyone turned to look at her.

"You should have _told me_!" She heard Piper's angry yell muffled through the door.

"Um...not exactly," Rosie said, wincing.

Jason marched out of Piper's room, grabbing Rosie's arm and dragging her further down the hallway, pulling her into his room. He slammed the door behind them.

She was terrified; his blue eyes were electric and she had an impulse to duck and cover.

"Jason-"

"You ran into _Grant_?" He asked with a face of disbelief.

She nodded quietly.

"He-he's here? In Bologna? He's _alive_?" He looked incredibly distraught- his normally neat blonde hair was sticking straight up.

"Is Piper okay?"

"Take me to Grant."

"What?"

"I want to see him."

"No."

"Dammnit, Rosie, show me where he is-"

"No, Jason!" She fired. "Grant doesn't want that."

Jason scowled. "So suddenly he gets to make all the decisions?"

"We asked him to come- he didn't want that, okay?"

"I-I should be able to talk to him."

"Just forget it, Jason," She snarled. She felt bad for Grant- she hated that she did...but she truly felt bad. He was alone and clearly still dealing with his past traumas...bringing Jason into it wouldn't help either of them. Especially if Grant told Jason what actually happened to Calla- it just might push him over the edge.

"You don't get to make the decision- stop inserting yourself into it!"

"Are you kidding me?" She yelled at him. This was weird- she and Jason never fought- that wasn't them. _What was happening to everyone?_ "You were the one who was crying to me about this!"

"Stop."

"It's true," she insisted.

"What did Grant say to Piper? Why is she so upset?"

"I can't tell you."

"_Rosie_!"

Rosie let out a loud noise of aggravation, walking over to his door. "You want me to stop inserting myself everywhere, you got it, Professor."

"Where are the hell are you going?!" Jason exclaimed angrily.

"To comfort my best friend!" She yelled back, angrily swinging open the door.

"At least you get the chance to do that," Jason said coldly.

"_Screw you_."

Rosie glared at him one final time before slamming the door behind her.

Leo, Hazel, Frank, and Nico all jumped.

Rosie sped down the hallway, feeling the anger build and build-

"What happened?" Leo pleaded, stepping in front of Rosie.

"Not right now, Leo."

"No," he insisted, blocking her way again. "You have to tell us what happened- we're a team, Freckles." Hearing her nickname made her want to sob.

"It's none of your business," she gritted out, sliding past him.

"Come on, Rosie, he's right," Frank said, frowning.

"Oh, so you two are suddenly BFFs?" She said cruelly.

Leo sighed. "Freckles, come on-"

"No! You guys don't need to be involved with this, okay?"

"Rosie, we just want to help," Hazel said softly.

"You can't," she snapped.

Nico scowled. "What could possibly be so bad in Bologna?"

"Stay out of it, Nico."

She opened the door to Piper's bedroom.

"Piper?"

Piper was sitting on her bed, wiping the tears off her cheek. She shot Rosie a weak smile.

Rosie sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her. "It's been a day," she said simply.

Piper nodded. "Yeah," she said quietly. After a brief pause, she continued. "I lost it on Jason."

"I'm sorry."

"I didn't-I didn't even give him a chance to explain himself. I put him on the spot, Rosie- just dropped the Grant bombshell on him. How was he supposed to react?"

"I know." Rosie didn't know what to say. She felt incredibly helpless.

"I didn't even know," she whispered in a hushed tone.

"He doesn't want to dwell on things like that, Piper."

"I'm his girlfriend," Piper said tearfully. "He should be talking to me, telling me these stories and yet he's telling them to you..."

Rosie felt ashamed. She slowly broke away from Piper's grasp. Not only was her boyfriend not telling her things, but her best friend wasn't either. Piper didn't know how she felt about Leo- Piper didn't know she was most likely going to _die _on this quest.

"I didn't mean it like that," she spoke quickly. "I'm not mad at you. I just want to be able to _help _him- I don't want him to turn into Grant."

"Sometimes, people have to help themselves."

"What about Percy and Annabeth?" She said softly. Her eyes were getting shinier and shinier with tears.

There it was- the root of everyone's problem. They were coping with the loss of their friends, and it was wreaking havoc on their lives.

Rosie paused. "I like ...I like to believe we can help them. I...I don't want to lose another brother."

She missed Percy- she hated herself for keeping him out for so long, hated herself for being angry at something he couldn't control.

She missed Annabeth, who always bossily told them what to do and who rolled her eyes when Rosie did the exact opposite of it.

"No offense to your brother," Piper said softly. "But sometimes I hate his guts for being so good."

"Me too," she said weakly.

And it was true. She sometimes hated Percy for following Annabeth- a truly terrible thought she hated herself for having.

But she understood. Looking at Leo, she knew with no doubt in her mind she would jump after him into the depths of Tartarus.

"You remember how we used to dance when we were really stressed? Back at school?" Rosie asked after a few minutes of silence.

Piper had a faint smile at the memory. "Yeah. The night before our Math final I remember dancing around to _Under_ _Pressure_."

Rosie nodded. "I think it's time we let off some steam," she said, grinning as she turned on the radio Leo installed in everyone's cabin. _Super Trouper by ABBA _and from one of their favorite movies came on.

Piper wiped another tear off her cheek. "Rosie, I don't think I can."

"No more tears, okay?" Rosie said as she started to sway, moving her feet to the music. "Get up and shake your booty or I'll just dance here and make you uncomfortable."

Piper smirked, getting up and slowly moving along with her. She giggled as Rosie started whipping her head around, as Piper picked up speed and started to sing along.

Their laughs and the loud music caused Hazel and Frank to poke their heads in.

"We heard music," Hazel said, looking amused at Rosie and Piper. "You guys are dancing?"

"We're boycotting tears," Rosie explained, hopping and swaying.

"No more tears," Piper agreed, waving her arms around.

"And so help me God, you better get in here, Hazel Basil," Rosie said. "I know you want to."

Hazel's face broke out in a grin, running in without thought as she began swaying around Piper.

Rosie shot a look at Frank, awkwardly lingering in the doorway. "You too, Zhang."

Frank blushed. "I don't think-"

Hazel grabbed his hand, yanking him inside. Frank went red and awkwardly swayed from foot to foot.

"It's fun to whip your hair around," Rosie yelled over the music, demonstrating. "Whip it!"

Piper and Hazel both followed her lead, laughing.

"Come, Frank, whip it!" Rosie said, jumping around wildly.

"I don't have any hair to whip!" Frank yelped, his voice an octave higher and sounding slightly panicked as he began to hop up and down.

Piper's eyes brightened with an idea as she ran out of the room. A second later, she emerged with a heaving Jason, in a bathrobe and with soapy suds still in his hair. Apparently, Jason's to-go after a fight was to shower. His eyes widened at the sight of them dancing.

"What's the-" He paused, turning to Piper. "You told me this was an emergency!"

"It is," she claimed, grabbing his hand. "Show me what you got, Mr. Grace."

The two of them began swaying around, Jason slowly smiling, the anger disappearing.

"Nice suds," Rosie told him, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

"Shut it, Reiger," he said, laughing.

Leo appeared at the door, welding gloves placed on his forehead. He grinned at the sight of everyone dancing.

"Oh, hey, dancing-cool! What's the occasion?" He asked, not hesitating to sway closer to Rosie, joining their little dance party.

"No more tears!" Hazel told him.

"I like the sound of that," he said, grabbing Rosie's hand, the two of them moving to the beat, sliding across the floor, and grinning at each other. Leo laughed at Frank. "Hey, Zhang, look at you!"

Frank sheepishly smiled, as he awkwardly swayed, his arms in the air. "I'm not coordinated."

"Fake it till you make it, bro." Leo showed off by bobbing his head and swaying to the rhythm.

"Easy for you to say."

Leo shrugged. "I've got the moves,"

Nico DiAngelo appeared last, no one noticing him at first. When Rosie did, she saw him slightly frown at them.

"Seriously?" He said. "You guys are dancing?"

"Yes," They all chorused.

"It's fun, Nico," Jason told him, making Piper laugh as he blew bubbles from his hair at her. "Come join. No more tears."

Nico shook his head. "I don't dance," he said flatly.

Hazel gave him a nudge with her shoulder. "Come dance, Nico."

"Or don't call it dancing," Rosie suggested, moving her hips. "Call it rhythmic movement."

Nico finally relented, slowly coming in and bobbing awkwardly up and down, as Hazel would occasionally swing him around.

So the seven of them danced, laughing and showing off their moves. For a few minutes, they forgot about everything. They were just a couple of friends having fun.

They kept dancing on.


	5. Like a Book

**radoddish-angst and dancing is the best combo!**

**SwedishMerlinFan- highly recommend dancing it out whenever you're sad/stressed! it helps sooo much :)**

**SEASBLU- yay thank you i'm sp happy you liked it!**

**MilkandCheez- big rosiexleo chapter ;)**

**Mads-Chikistorm- ahhh i'm so happy you liked it! thank you so much!**

**AyeraeW- yay thank you so much! hope you like this chapter :))**

* * *

Once in a while, by a stroke of bad luck, Rosie would end up on night duty with Leo.

Normally, she would've loved this. She and Leo would banter back and forth, doing things such as _I Spy_ or playing card games. Now, it was just awkward, heavy air between the two of them.

She sat there on the deck of the _Argo II_, knees hugged to her chest as Leo stood at the helm, peering out into the sky.

"So- tell me about the thing." she said cautiously.

Leo was tinkering- when was he not? He had gotten some sort of navigation device from the dwarf he and Jason followed- some sort of astrolabe.

"It's cool, I swear," he said, his brow furrowed in concentration. He paused for a brief moment to wipe away some sweat. "Just-_shoot_\- just missing a slightly important part."

"So it's broken."

"You know I don't like that word, Freckles."

"Fine- a lost piece, then."

Leo waved her off. "Nah," He said. "Nothing's ever lost."

"Tell that to the pet rock Piper and I had." She would never let Leo live down the fact that he completely _lost_ the pet rock named Otis that she and Piper had at Wilderness.

"We said we would blame that on the caffeine!"

There were semblances of normalcy. But she couldn't help but count the charged silences in her head, blush at the lingering stares.

"And it doesn't freak you out at _all_ that you got this thing from those dwarves."

Leo shrugged, pausing for a second. "I mean...those guys weren't so bad. I kinda felt like they were similar to me ...constantly getting into trouble."

Rosie smirked at him. "You don't get into trouble, Fire Guy. Trouble finds you."

He grinned back at her. "Seems that way, doesn't it?" Leo produced a small leather-bound manual from underneath his arm, tossing it to Rosie. "The dwarves also gave us our next destination."

Rosie nodded, glancing at the post-it Leo stuck on the cover. "_La Casa Nera_," she read. "_Calle Frezzeria._ Pretty good handwriting for a dwarf."

"Venice," Leo stated.

"Pretty romantic there," Rosie mentioned, instantly cursing her stupidity. She had to stop doing that- dropping subtle hints.

If Leo noticed, he didn't show it. He simply nodded, tinkering away with the astrolabe. "City of gondolas," he said.

"And stray dogs."

Leo gave her an incredulous look. "No way."

"Way!" she said. "I did a project on Venice in the third grade- tons of stray dogs."

"Bullshit. No way are you Rosie Reiger, expert of all things _Venice_."

Rosie gave him a shocked look. "Ye of little faith."

"Sue me."

"I won't say I told you so when you see _loads_ of dogs there."

Leo nodded. "Fair enough."

Rose grinned at him. "You're gonna have to stop me from taking all of them home."

"Aw, Freckles, I have a soft spot for pups too!"

"But I'm going to want to take fifteen of them," she said seriously. "Can't help but have a soft spot for strays, Valdez."

"_One_," Leo negotiated with a smile on his face.

She chided herself silently for indulging in this. "One," she agreed.

"But what will we name it?"

"Elton," she said seriously, thinking of Elton John.

"Ha-ha."

"Bold of you to think I'm kidding."

"I see right through your bluff."

"Okay, Valdez-"

"Am I interrupting something?"

The two of them turned to see Jason standing there, an amused look on his face. Rosie felt a blush rush into her cheeks.

"We're being good students and arguing about Venice, Professor," Leo joked.

Jason snorted. "Very funny," he said. He looked at Rosie. "I can take over for watch."

"Oh…" She felt a flash of disappointment. She shook her head. "Leo should go- I'm fine. I can stay up."

Leo rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, Freckles."

He definitely wasn't- Leo hardly slept. It was considered a good night for him if he were curled up in the engine room with a blanket.

"Please- you haven't slept."

"And I'm still kicking!"

"Go to bed."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a funny look pass on Jason's face.

"What?" she asked him.

He blinked, breaking eye contact with Rosie. "Um. Nothing. If neither of you want to leave...I, uh, might go back to bed."

"Grandpa," Rosie snickered under her breath.

Jason sighed. "One of these days, you'll get sick of the old man jokes."

"Never."

"Yeah, okay, Mr-"

"Guys?" Leo broke in, his eyes narrowing.

"What?" Jason asked, forgetting about the argument at hand.

Leo had gone pale, an extremely worried look on his face. "Do either of you...is it just me or…" He shivered, tucking his arms into his body. "Did it just get really cold?"

Jason raised his eyebrows at him. "Is this some dumb joke, Leo?"

Leo sighed, frustrated. "No, dude! I swear it just got, like, twenty degrees colder. Do you feel it, Freckles?"

She shrugged. "I'm always cold." That was true- Frank was still pissed at her for stealing one of his sweatshirts. She couldn't help it- she loved how huge his were on her.

Leo frowned. "I could've sworn-"

_WHOOSH. _

Rosie fell into Jason, a hard force hitting her from behind, the two of them collapsing onto deck.

Jason grunted under the weight of Rosie. "What the-"

"Storm spirit!" Leo exclaimed, quickly ducking close to the ground.

Rosie groaned, rolling off of Jason onto the deck. Out of all the attacks towards the ship, they were all too familiar with _venti_, or wind spirit attacks. Luckily, they had Jason- he was usually the most successful with these.

Jason stood up, flicking his hand and sending up a powerful gust of wind, the venti wailing. Vaguely, she could make out the features of the spirit: a dark billow of smoke like cloud, sparks for eyes.

Leo yelped as he was suddenly lifted into the air. "There's more!" he warned, wincing on he fell onto his back, dropped from the air.

"Gross, I can't stop thinking of Dylan!" Rosie yelled, quickly swooping out of the way of one of the wind spirits. She shuddered when thinking of Dylan, the storm spirit disguised as boy who made their lives a living hell at Wilderness.

"Watch out!" Jason yelled.

The hairs on Rosie's arm stood as a bolt of electricity struck the deck inches away from her feet. She gasped, falling backwards in shock.

It was truly impossible fighting the storm spirits- Jason was the only one who had a true, powerful grasp on them.

She felt herself tossed into the air, the entire world spinning as she tumbled through the air. She let out a scream of pain as she fell onto her back.

_Rosie…._

_Rosie…_

Was she hearing things, or were they saying her name?

A gust of wind picked up, sweeping up Leo's navigational device.

"Oh no you don't!" Leo jumped up angrily, his arm suddenly engulfed in flames.

A look of panic appeared on Jason's face, as he held an arm out to Leo. "LEO DON'T-"

Rosie watched in horror as it came together for her: the wind spirit surrounded Leo, a fierce vortex of wind encircling him. She watched Leo clutch at his throat, gasping for air as the flames died out. The spirit was essentially suffocating him.

Rosie screamed, a ragged, guttural sound. "_Leo!_" Everything seemed to fade: all she could focus on was Leo, _Leo_, gasping for air.

"Do something!" She begged to Jason, aware that her voice was sounding shrill and jagged. "Help him, Jason!" She felt her knees waver, her entire going numb.

_Oh, how easily you fall. It's laughable how weak that boy makes you. _

She violently thrashed, falling to her knees as that terrible and yet familiar voice came into her head.

She could vaguely make out Jason, elevating into the air and falling into the vortex. It almost looked like he was...wrestling the spirit.

She didn't know how he got rid of them. All she was watching was Leo, watching as he fell to the ground, hitting his head, but ...okay_. Alive. _

"Leo!" She rushed forward to his side, kneeling down beside him. Leo was on his side, blinking up at her.

"Ow…" he muttered weakly.

"Are you okay?" She helped him sit up, Leo wincing as he did.

"Yeah. Just...my head…" He winced again, closing his eyes. "I really hate those things."

"I _loathe _those things." She couldn't help but hysterically laugh, it sounding more like a sob of relief.

"My astrolabe…"

"It's fine," Jason said, appearing with the navigation device in his hands. "A little battered up, but no worse than how we found it. How's your head, Leo?"

Leo frowned, a blank look on his face. "Who's Leo?"

Jason and Rosie exchanged panicked looks. No- god, no. It couldn't be…

After a second, Leo broke out into a grin. "Kidding! Geez, you should've seen your faces…"

Rosie shoved him, unable to hide her smile, another laugh of relief coming out of her. "_Don't do that!_" she admonished, laughing. She was afraid that any second she would start crying tears of relief- not only would that break their 'no tears' agreement, but it would be _embarrassing. _

"It was a golden opportunity, Freckles! Amnesia is always a good idea!"

"Speaking from experience," Jason said, frowning. "It really isn't."

Leo laughed. "Ha, you're right! Forgot about that…" He frowned. "I forgot ...huh. Maybe I _do_ have amnesia…"

Rosie pushed him again. "Stop that."

"I can't help it!"

"You're the worst." She was grinning at him- her cheeks hurt from how big her smile was.

"Am I? I don't remember."

"Leo!"

She didn't want to leave Leo's side. She couldn't, even when it was obvious Leo was fine. She stayed there at his side, Leo cracking jokes as he held up an ice pack to his forehead. The two of them bantered, Rosie's heart leaping every time he looked at her. She was a fool- an absolute, utter _fool._

At least, no one knew.

She finally glanced away from Leo, only to see Jason leaning against the railing of the ship, looking at the two of them. She took one look at his face, a look of pure realization and shock. Their eyes met.

She froze.

In that moment, she realized she wasn't alone in this little secret.

Jason knew.


	6. The City of Vengeful Cows

**radoddish- oh snap indeed! craziness**

**MilkandCheez- Jason knows alllll. And I'll tell ya this...he's not the only one who knows...any guesses who else does?**

**SEASBLU- jason is a the OG roleo shipper!**

**also, quick apologies for the time inbetween updates. this is a very hectic month for me. thank you for your support and patience!**

* * *

Hazel peered out with a quizzical look on her face.

"What are they?" she asked, eyebrows furrowed.

The _Argo II _was currently docked at a busy wharf. The city of Venice surrounded them- steepled towers and waterway canals crowded with gondolas. Statues of lions, for some reason, littered the city.

That, however, wasn't the problem.

Throughout the city of Venice were these...monsters. Each once was about the size of a cow, with matted gray fur, skinny legs, and black hooves. Their disheveled manes covered their eyes.

"They're...they're so calm," Rosie frowned, looking at the mortals.

The monster's appearance flickered, turning into a basset hound for one single second.

"The mortals think they're stray dogs," Jason grunted.

Rosie turned to Leo. "_Ha!_" she said triumphantly, feeling vindicated by third grade Rosie's knowledge. "I told you so!"

Leo made a disgusted face at the monsters. "I don't want to take one of those home, Freckles."

She opened her mouth to say a witty response, but Jason's watchful gaze over Leo's shoulder stopped her in the tracks. Freaking Jason just _had_ to be able to read everyone- the kid should just stick to reading books.

"My dad filmed a movie here once," Piper said quietly. "He said Venetians love dogs."

"Who cares if they appear like dogs?" Frank moaned. "They look like...starving shaggy cows ...who are part sheepdog."

"Could be harmless," Leo shrugged. "I mean, they're not eating the mortals or anything."

Coach laughed, slapping one of his goat legs. "Valdez! When have we ever run into a _harmless_ monster?"

Piper nodded. "Surprisingly, Coach has a point."

"So I say we just aim the ballista and hope for the best!"

Leo winced. "Let's _not_ do that."

Frank sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "So, I guess we just...walk through them and hope they're peaceful. It's the only way we're going to find the owner of that book."

Leo pulled out the leather book, inspecting the sticky note on it. "_La Casa Nera_," he read. "_Calle Frezzeria."_

"The Black House," Nico translated under his breath. Rosie slightly jumped, realizing Nico was at her shoulder. The kid needed a cowbell. "Calle Frezzeria is the street."

"So you speak Italian?" Rosie asked lightly, trying to calm down her heart rate.

Nico glowered at her. "Frank is right," he said. "We have to find that address. The only way to do it is walking through the city. Venice is like a maze. We have to risk the crowds...and those things."

Thumber rumbled, although there were no clouds in the sky. Despite the sunny summer day, she could smell rain.

"I should stay on board," she announced. She didn't really feel like walking into Venice and possibly running into another long-lost friend of Jason's. "I'm a little nervous about the weather."

Jason nodded. "Lots of venti in the storm last night," he said. _Last night_\- a memory that made her cheeks burn with embarrassment. "I'll stay too."

Coach grunted. "Well, count me out, too. I don't feel like going unless I get to whack those furry things."

"No need, Coach," Leo said, grinning. "I need your help repairing the foremast. And I've got a new idea for an installation in the engine room!"

This sounded worrisome- usually Leo's "installations" caused nothing but havoc. She was pretty sure Frank was still upset about Leo accidentally setting his cabin door on fire.

Piper shifted uncomfortably. "Someone who's good with animals should go," she said. "I, uh, I'm not great with cows."

"We get it, you're a vegetarian," Rosie joked at her best friend, who rolled her eyes back at her.

"I guess I'll go," Frank said.

Leo clapped him on the shoulder, handing him the leather-bound book. "Way to take one for the team, Zhang! If you pass a hardware store, pick up a gallon of tar for me, will ya?"

Hazel rolled her eyes."It's not a shopping trip, Leo."

"I'll go with Frank," Nico volunteered.

For a brief second, Rosie was pretty sure Frank passed out. She didn't blame him.

"So...um, you're good with animals?" Frank asked him nervously.

"No. Animals hate me- they can sense death." Lovely. "But there's something about Venice..lots of death. Restless spirits- I could probably calm them down."

Leo laughed. "Lots of death, huh? Personally, I'm trying to avoid lots of death and all that morbid stuff, but you guys have a blast!"

Hazel slipped her hand into Frank's. "I can go, too," she said. "The three of us are a good group to go."

Nico stared at the canals. "Well," he said. "Let's go find the owner of this book."

* * *

Piper was sick.

Currently, she was kneeling on the floor of the bathroom, head in the toilet. Rosie stood behind her, holding her hair back and wincing slightly at the noise.

"I hate everything," Piper moaned loudly.

"That's the spirit," Rosie said in what she hoped was a comforting tone. She rubbed Piper's back.

"This," she broke off with a moan. "This is karma."

"No, I'm pretty sure this is vomit."

Piper pulled herself out of the toilet, turning to face Rosie. She had turned a sickly shade of green. Rosie grimaced, but then quickly put a smile on her face.

Piper looked distraught.

"What's wrong, kiddo?"

"Karma. This is karma, Rosie."

"Elaborate."

Piper gulped, holding her stomach as she leaned against the toilet. "I'm lying to Jason," she said in a hushed whisper.

"Is it really a secret that Jason talks in his sleep?" Rosie whispered back in a joking tone.

Piper's face got dark. "Rosie," she said. "You know what I mean."

"Oh." Rosie felt her face fall. "You mean Grant."

"Yes, I mean Grant. How- how can I keep this from Jason? I...I don't like secrets. I-I can't be that person anymore- not the girl six months ago who kept secrets from her best friends."

Rosie couldn't look Piper in the eye. She glanced away. "Um…"

"He's my boyfriend. I...I shouldn't be keeping secrets for some-some _freaking street urchin._ I-I love Jason, Rosie."

"I know?" Piper was acting weirdly defensive...like she felt like she had to prove something.

"I love Jason! How would you feel keeping something from someone you love?"

She was already doing that. It felt like hell.

"I-I don't know, Piper. Isn't it okay to keep it from someone if the truth is only going to hurt them?"

She didn't want to risk her constant. Leo was her constant- as selfish as it was to not tell him, he was her best friend. What if telling him changed that?

Piper suddenly turned away, retching into the toilet. Rosie grimaced, holding her hair back again.

"Karma," she muttered. "For being a terrible person. _Freaking karma_."

"Stop that," Rosie scolded. "You're not terrible."

"Dreams," Piper muttered wobbly from the toilet. "So many dreams...so many terrible things."

"Piper?" She was freaking Rosie out.

"I keep...keep _seeing things_. They don't make sense, Rosie. I think...I think…" She broke off with a hiccup.

"Piper, slow down. Try to take a breath."

"How are you so _calm_? Two months ago, you would've already destroyed a building by now."

Ouch. Hurtful, but also slightly true. With all that had happened, it was weird an earthquake had not happened recently.

"Rosie?"

"I'm still here."

"I think one of us is going to die," she whispered softly from the toilet.

Rosie said nothing.

Piper wasn't wrong.

And if it all went according to her plan, it would be her. In a perfect world, she would quietly slip out and her friends would be left alone, safe from Gaea's wrath. Piper could go home and eat veggies and surf as much as she wanted to with her dad. Jason could enroll in high school and finally put that nerdy brain to use. Leo could open up his part-taco-part-auto shop, and let his imagination run wild. Coach could go home to Mellie. Percy could eat as much blue food as he wanted and maybe use his hero-like tendencies to save the oceans from pollution. Annabeth could look into college architecture programs. Frank and Hazel could finally go on a proper date, instead of awkwardly eating meals together in the mess hall. Nico diAngelo could...well, do whatever he did in his free time.

In a perfect world.

"Well…" Rosie tried to mask the emotion in her voice. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

* * *

She would've stayed with Piper all afternoon. However, Piper quickly fell asleep, leaving Rosie alone to her devices.

She wasn't alone for too long- Leo quickly pulled her aside.

"Don't freak out," he said quietly.

"Oh god, what now?"

"I don't want to freak out Coach and Jason."

Seemed like today was go-to-Rosie-with-all-your-problems-day.

"What's up?"

He brought her up to the deck. She saw Coach and Jason standing at the helm, out of earshot.

"Now," Leo muttered through gritted teeth. He went to the railing, leaning slightly over the railing. "I want you...to listen to the water."

She blinked at him. "What?"

"I know it's a weird request, Freckles. I swear I'm not crazy."

"You're running on four hours of sleep."

"Please listen." He glanced at Jason and Coach. "Discreetly."

With a sigh, she leaned towards the water, tilting her head towards it. For a second, she just heard the gentle lap of the canal water.

She was about to roll her eyes, ready to yell at Leo for messing with her.

Then, she heard it.

_Rosie…_

_Rosie…_

"_Shit_."

Leo gave her a solemn look. "You hear it?"

"Yeah. I...I don't know what to do." Hearing the ocean speak your name wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence.

"Want me to tell the others? We could move the ship."

"No." Leo was right- they couldn't freak them out. Whatever this was, it was obviously meant for her. She had to deal with it. "I'll go check it out."

"I don't like the sound of that, Freckles."

She didn't either. "I'll be okay. Give me twenty minutes. If I'm not back by then, panic."

A small smile appeared on Leo's face. "Already panicking."

She was too. But, she couldn't show it. She thought about her brother, Percy. She thought about his words: _sometimes, you can kick butt being a leader. _She thought about how much of a leader he naturally was. His confidence- how he exuded bravery. There _had_ to be some of that in her- they were children of the freaking sea god. The sea was powerful, unrelenting.

She was the sea. She was ready to be the one to inspire awe and fear.

"I'll be back," she promised.

Leo distracted Coach and Jason, as she lowered herself in the canal. The water was frigid, but she hardly felt it. Something inside of her was burning.

She followed the sound of the voice, as it got louder and louder.

_Rosie…_

_Rosie…_

She stopped paddling, frozen in place. She could see something approaching her. A little part of her hoped it was a friendly sea creature just coming to say hi.

A serpent-like creature appeared, glistening yellow and green scales. The creature was beautiful- she hated herself for thinking that. As the creature got closer, however, her heart dropped.

She knew that monster.

A memory she tried so hard to never uncover emerged in her head.

She was thirteen and alone.

She didn't know about her powers.

She was attacked. She panicked.

The images came in flashes.

Rumbling tables.

Dust raining down.

A restaurant crumbling. Screams. Ambulances.

All because of her.

That monster was there that night.


	7. Reemerging

**I know, y'all- it's been a while since I've updated. I am so sorry! School is my first priority, and unfortunately it gets pretty crazy at times. Thank you for your patience!**

**radoddish- HERE WE GO**

**SEASBLU- hahaha mission accomplished then**

**MilkandCheez- ooooHHHH**

**and to CreepyCrazyWeird - aw, what a nice comment, thank you so much! glad you're enjoying it!**

* * *

This had to be some sort of sick joke.

Gaea was messing with her, no doubt- showing her something from one of the worst nights of her life. Why did Gaea know how to mess with her _so well?_

All Rosie had to do was take one look at this monster's face, and suddenly she was _floored_. She could see the faces in her mind, faces she tried so hard to forget: an eldery couple, staring into each other's eyes with nothing but adoration. A balding man, two little girls climbing over him, giggling. A young woman with kind eyes and hair so curly it reminded Rosie of her mother's. Faces that were there that night, in the restaurant.

_Stop_, she commanded herself. _She will not see this get to you. _

So, she forced herself to set her jaw and glare back at the monster, who was now silent.

_What do you want? _

The monster grinned, showing a set of glinting, crocodile-like teeth.

_I've come to deliver a message. _

_Who sent you? _

For a second, the monster didn't speak. Rosie had an inkling she already knew who sent this monster.

_I've come on behalf of Mother Earth's Children. _

Okay, maybe not. Rosie had no idea what that was referring to- it did, however, sound like a pretty good rock band name.

_Is this supposed to ring some sort of bell for me? _

_Listen to me, and listen to me closely. I have a list of names: Jason Grace, Nico diAngelo, and you, Rosemary Reiger. You three, and only you three, are to report to Hotel Ai Due Fanali as soon as Nico diAngelo returns to your ship. Send no one else. From there, you'll be given further instruction._

She was taken aback by the monster's forwardness. I mean, sure- they ran into a lot of danger. That doesn't mean they were constantly looking for it.

_Wow, sounds enticing. And if we don't? _

The monster grinned again, sending shivers down her spine. She couldn't look it in the eye- it knew. It knew what she did. The word echoed through her mind: _murderer, murderer, murderer-_

_You will go, Rosie. You will go because you and I both know what you are. What you did- can you believe it's been three years? _The monster's eyes glinted dangerously. _Ah, yes. You will go. It'd be a shame for them if you didn't go. _

Her muscles tensed. _Them_\- who was he talking about?

The water shimmered, and suddenly the monster was gone. Instead, an image formed. She squinted to see it- it was so faint at first. What was it?

Then, she saw the eyes.

His eyes, sea green eyes she recognized immediately.

It was Percy. She knew it with certainty. That was her brother.

Percy.

She felt her mouth form the words she wanted to speak. But he couldn't hear her; she wasn't there.

All she kept thinking was _they're alive. Thank god they're alive. _

She could hear everything: the soft moan coming from Percy as he clutched his side.

"_Percy!" _

Rosie knew that fear-stricken voice. It was Annabeth.

The image became clearer, figures coming out of the haze. She could see vampire-like monsters, with vicious teeth and cheerleading uniforms on. The girl in front, their leader, sneered at the two of them.

"_I wonder what happens if a demigod is killed in Tartarus,"_ the monster sneered. _"I guess we'll find out."_

Rosie jerked back, feeling as though the image was _too real._ She felt a muffled scream leave her mouth, watched in horror as the vampire-like monsters launched themselves at her brother. Percy staggered under their weight, as Annabeth's scream broke the silence in the air.

Their leader grinned, red eyes glowing menacingly. She raised a talon, slicing it sharply against Annabeth's arm.

"No!"

The image dissolved, leaving nothing but sea surrounding her.

_You will go, Rosie. _It was only the monster's voice now. _You will go, because their lives depend on it._

* * *

"I don't understand," Jason said in a confused tone, shaking his head at her. "Slow down, Rosie."

"They're _alive,_" she hissed, digging her fingers harshly into his arms.

"Rosie," Piper said with a worried look on her face. "You're scaring us."

She was on deck with Coach, Leo, Piper, and Jason. Apparently, what felt like two minutes was actually almost an hour, nearly causing Leo to shoot off the ballista. Rosie had gotten on board to see the four of them arguing, Coach nearly thwacking Jason in the head with his baseball bat.

Coach scratched his goatee thoughtfully. "Reiger, you're _sure_ you saw Jackson and Chase?"

"Yes!" she screamed, grabbing onto her hair with aggravation. "They're alive, but-but I think they're in trouble. We need to go, Jason. God, where is Nico?"

"Rosie," Jason said softly. "I...maybe this monster was just messing with you, you know? I...er, what exactly did he say?"

Rosie froze in fear. She couldn't tell them about the monster, not everything. The only one who knew about that night in the restaurant was Piper- there was no way she was going to divulge that secret again. She glanced over at Leo, who had been surprisingly quiet during their conversation. Rosie couldn't bear the thought of telling him. It was truly the worst thing she's ever done.

"Um.." she trailed off. "I-I just know it's important, okay? You, me, and Nico have to go check that hotel out."

Jason hesitated. "I don't know, Rosie...what if it's a trap?"

Piper scoffed. "If? Come on, guys, it's _always _a trap."

"McLean's got a point…" Coach started.

"So, majority rules, then," Jason's Roman side was showing. Rosie groaned under her breath. "We don't go."

"I know what I saw…" she muttered.

Piper placed a comforting hand on Rosie's shoulder. "Maybe you should lie down…"

Rosie harshly broke away from her grasp. "No!" she cried.

Leo took a slight step forward.

Rosie glanced at him, setting her jaw in anger. "I know what I saw," she repeated firmly.

"I believe you, Freckles."

She felt her heart pounding, as she took a big gulp. "That kind of fear…" She thought of the look on Percy's face, Annabeth's scream. "You can't fake that kind of fear…"

Leo nodded, giving her a supportive smile. "Okay. So we'll wait for Nico and then you guys will check out these Mother Planet people…"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Mother Earth's children," she corrected. "I don't like the sound of that…"

"They are going to _die_," Rosie emphasized.

"Cupcakes, maybe we should-" Coach started.

"Uh, guys?" Jason interrupted. "Am I going crazy, or did Frank get taller?"

They glanced out at the dock- Frank, Hazel, and Nico had returned, tiny blobs slowly getting closer to the ship.

Rosie glared at Jason and Piper. "We have a meeting," she demanded. "We have a meeting, we get on the same page, and we _g_o_. _They're alive, and I'm not going to…" she trailed off, biting her lip. She couldn't finish the sentence: she couldn't be a murderer- not again.

Jason sighed. Finally, he nodded.

"We have a meeting."


	8. Grass is Greener

**SEASBLU- YAY glad you liked it!**

**AyeraeW- no worries haha glad you enjoyed it!**

* * *

"Stop staring at me," Frank said to Leo, scowling. "You're making me nervous."

Leo shook his head in amazement, peering at Frank from across the mess hall table. "Can't help it, buddy," he said. "Guys, how am I supposed to make fun of a Zhang whose biceps are as big as my head?"

Frank, Hazel, and Nico apparently had an interesting journey. They ran into Triptolemus, a god of agriculture who instructed them on how to enter the House of Hades. This somehow escalated into Frank slaying an entire army of cows, coming out of it stronger and bigger, physically. Rosie couldn't peel her eyes away from him- it was impossible to make fun of him now.

Hazel rolled her eyes. "You know, you don't have to be mean everytime you speak to Frank. You _could _compliment him once in a while."

Leo made a face. "What's the fun in that?"

"Guys, could we focus?" Jason pleaded from the head of the table.

Nico leaned back in his chair, hands clasped together as he stared at the rest of the table. His eyes landed on Rosie, who sunk into her seat a little. "You're telling us that we have to go to a random hotel, talk with people who are _absolutely _working with Gaea, all based on a _vision _you had?"

She narrowed her eyes at him- she and Nico were truly like oil and water. "You make it sound like I came to this conclusion daydreaming in the shower."

"Why you three, though?" Hazel asked, frowning.

Rosie glanced at Jason and Nico. Hazel's question was good- she had no idea what the three of them had to offer together as a group.

"Children of the Big Three?" Piper suggested.

"Then why wouldn't Hazel be included?" Jason pointed out.

Nobody seemed to know the answer to this. A silence fell over the group.

"I'm not going," Nico announced to the table.

Rosie sputtered out a laugh. "You are."

Nico rolled his eyes at her. "I was turned into a corn plant today, Rosie. Forgive me for not jumping into the next sign of danger."

"They specifically said you, me, and Jason."

"Again, not about to run out the door because of a vision you had-we don't even know if it was real."

Rosie glared at him coldly. "When we were dangling on the edge of that pit, you _promised_ my brother you'd get us to the House of Hades. You're really going to break that promise?"

A hushed silence fell over a table, as it always did when Percy's name was mentioned.

"They're alive," Rosie continued. "And I'm not comfortable sitting here while they're dealing with god knows _what _down there."

Nico chewed on his lip thoughtfully.

"We can be right near the hotel," Leo offered helpfully. "The second we sense trouble, we'll get you guys out of there."

Jason shifted uncomfortably in his seat, no doubt uncomfortable by the tension between Nico and Rosie. "So...Leo, set course for the hotel. We all in agreement?"

Nico shot one final look at Rosie. "Fine," he gritted out. "Let's go."

* * *

The cobblestone hotel stood off one of Venice's waterways, looming ominously over them.

Jason tilted his head at the building. "So...do we just walk in?" he asked, glancing at Rosie.

She shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted. "He...the monster said we would get further instructions once we got here."

"Figures," Nico muttered under his breath.

Rosie shot him a look, then turning to Jason. "I don't like this dynamic," she muttered.

The door suddenly swung open, a boy walking out. He was wearing a thick, woollen coat, despite the sun blazing overhead. He glanced over at the three of them, like he was expecting them. As he got closer, she could make out more of his features: dark eyes and skin, short buzzed hair.

Nico held his hand up threateningly. "Stay back," he warned.

The boy smirked, holding his hands up in surrender. "Man," he said. "If this is the start we're off to, this isn't going to work."

Jason narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Why...why do I know you?"

The boy sighed. "I didn't think you'd remember me," he said simply. The boy pulled back one of his coat sleeves, displaying the Roman SPQR tattoo. "Pleasure seeing you again, Praetor Grace."

Great-just what they needed: running into more of Jason's peers.

Jason's eyes grew wide. "I...er, I'm sorry- I don't remember your name." A slightly embarrassed blush crept into his cheeks.

"Oscar," he said, extending a hand out to Jason. "Son of Aquilion."

Rosie jumped back, clutching Jason's arm. "Boreas," she said fearfully, shuddering at the memory of running into him and his children: Khione, Calais, Zethes. "Jason-"

Jason's hand had become a fist. "I-we don't know why we were called here."

Oscar grinned. "Right. I can explain that inside, if you'll follow."

Rosie winced. "In horror movies, that's how we would die," she said.

Oscar laughed. "That's funny," he said, grinning again and displaying a row of pearly white teeth. "You're funny, Rosie."

She grimaced, exchanging a look with Jason. "Uh, thanks?"

"Listen," Oscar said, a soft look on his face. "I know you're probably have your guard up...I swear me and my allies don't want to hurt you, okay? We'll go inside and talk civilly- Greeks and Romans, right?"

"More like evil versus good," Nico spat.

Oscar nodded. "Fair enough," he admitted. "How about this- the room I'm going to take you guys into….it drains our powers. Yours...and ours. No weapons, no powers-no need for anyone to get hurt." He glanced at Jason. "It'll be like a Forum."

Jason hesitated, but nodded."Sounds reasonable…"

Nico shot an aghast look at Jason, one that was ignored. For once, Rosie had to agree with Nico- what was Jason doing?

Oscar led them into the room of the hotel. It looked like it had been a conference room at one point- a long, oval table stood in the center. Sitting at the table were two girls exchanged in what appeared to be a flowing conversation- the two of them were laughing and smiling easily.

One of them, a brunette girl with a distinct scar running the length of her cheek noticed them as they approached. Besides Rosie, Jason froze, inhaling sharply.

"Odette?" He said, his face scrunched in confusion.

The girl smirked, turning back to her friend, a girl with chestnut colored hair. "Told ya he'd remember me," she said proudly. "Jason and I go way back, don't we?" She winked at Jason.

Rosie raised her eyebrows at Jason. "Is this some sort of reunion?"

"Not really," said the other girl. "I'm Greek, I doubt he would know me. I'm Agnes."

Nico scrunched his face in confusion. "Are you from Camp Half-Blood?"

Agnes' face soured. "No, never made it there. Daughter of Hypnos."

"And you?" Rosie asked Odette.

"Vulcan," Jason answered. "She's a daughter of Vulcan."

Odette smirked, and Rosie immediately felt suspicious of her. Something about her...ticked Rosie off. And the fact that she was a Vulcan kid…

"That's right, Praetor. Please," Odette said, gesturing to the seats around the table. "Sit."

Nico gripped the back of one of the chairs, staring at the three strangers before them. "I'm going to need a little more explanation," he snarled.

Rosie slowly sat down, Jason following suit. Nico remained standing.

"I don't understand," Jason said. "This Mother Earth Children thing...you're working for Gaea? You guys...you guys are_ demigods_."

Agnes clucked sympathetically. "We know it's hard to understand," she admitted. "That's why we're _so _appreciative that you came here."

Jason shook his head angrily at Odette and Oscar. "You guys, of all people...where's your sense of duty?" No matter how much Jason tried to break away from it, at the end of the day, he was Roman, through and through.

Oscar frowned. "We still have a sense of duty- it's just towards a different goal."

"When did you even leave camp?" Jason asked Odette.

Odette rolled her eyes. "Shortly after you went MIA," she explained. "After all, you and Reyna came back from that quest without Grant Pike and Calla Massey, and then _you _disappear...can you blame me?"

Jason's eyes became fierce with anger, as Rosie sunk into her seat at the mention of Grant and Calla, hoping no one would notice her. "Calla-" he broke off angrily. "What happened on that quest was unfortunate but...I didn't _voluntarily_ go missing after that- I was kidnapped by a god."

"Exactly!" Odette exclaimed. "It's _always_ a god that meddles, Jason. We're sick of that, and I _know _you are…"

"You think we have vendettas," Rosie said softly. "Because we're children of the Big Three."

"Tell me they haven't hurt you."

The three of them went silent.

"You've all lost someone," Oscar said gently. "We're just sick of the gods...of them being the puppeteers. With Gaea ...there's a sense of control. Of power."

Jason sneered at Odette. "That's what you want, isn't it? Power? You were always upset Reyna was praetor and you weren't."

Odette rolled her eyes. "God, are you still obsessed with Reyna?" She turned to Nico and Rosie. "Those two were attached at the hip. I know Calla _hated_ that…"

"Stop," Jason whispered harshly.

"Now she was truly obsessed with Jason….she followed him around like a puppy dog. It was adorable," she said sarcastically. "President of the Jason Grace fan club."

"Stop!" Jason exclaimed. "Why the hell were we called here?! You know there's no way we're joining you- we aren't doing this for the gods. We're doing this because it's the right thing to do." Rosie knew Annabeth would be proud of Jason for saying this- he had come a long way.

"So you don't want to help us," Agnes said flatly. "That's fine."

"This can be over right now," Oscar mentioned. "We just need one thing, one thing that we know you have."

"What?" Nico asked. "What are you guys talking about?"

Odette leaned back in her chair, smiling widely at them. "We thought we would never find it. And yet, imagine my surprise when it ended up in the arms of one of my old friends, someone I thought was dead."

Jason went pale, clutching the table. "What…"

"Grant Pike gave this to one of his dwarves. I believe the dwarf then got it taken away by one of your crewmates, Leo Valdez."

Rosie felt a wave of confusion.

"We want your astrolabe."


	9. Apologetically

**radoddish- i love cliffhangers. I'm evil, I know...**

**AyeraeW- haha you're better at keeping up with the updates then I am with updating!**

* * *

"I-I don't understand," Rosie said, trying to wrap her head around Odette's words. Why they did want Leo's stupid, broken astrolabe? "Why...what do you need the astrolabe for?"

"It's none of your concern," Agnes said sharply.

"What she means is," Odette quickly interrupted. "I'm the daughter of Vulcan- I like to tinker. Can't help me wanting something in exchange." She shot Rosie a grin, which sent a shiver up her spine.

"In exchange for what?" Nico asked angrily.

"For _not _killing you all- letting you go. We're not about to shed the blood of our brothers and sisters. We're just warning you: Gaea is awakening. She will make this quest a living hell for you. You think your journey has been hard so far? Just wait. Giving us the astrolabe...you'll save yourself a lot of grief."

"No," Rosie answered quickly in a panic. "That-I-Leo's trying to fix that. It's his."

"He's not going to be able to use it for anything," Oscar said.

"And what exactly do you plan on using it for?" Jason asked, narrowing his eyes at them.

"We don't ask questions, Jason," Odette said. "We know this- there's no way to stop Gaea."

"That's defeatist," Nico said, showing a rare glimpse of optimism.

"No, what's defeatist is being around the gods," Oscar said to him. "Our parents did nothing for us- everyone at camp knew your situation, Jason. You hardly had a childhood- don't you want to make up for that misery?"

"It wasn't all misery," Jason said silently, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Where are your friends from camp now, Jason?" Odette asked harshly. "Calla's _dead_, Reyna is hunting you guys, and Grant didn't even want to see you…"

"How do you know all of that?" he asked. "Are you spying on us?"

"Would it be so bad if, for once, the gods weren't in charge?" Agnes asked. She glanced at Rosie. "What happened at the restaurant wasn't your fault, Rosie- it was your father's."

_She had felt a deep rumbling in her chest. _

"Stop," she pleaded, wanting the memory to _go away_.

Nico and Jason were looking at her, clearly confused.

"I know you feel guilty about your powers- all they do is harm."

_Dust had rained down from the ceilings. She knocked into a waiter on the way out._

She glanced down at her hands, clasped together tightly. "Please stop."

"Your father is a hypocrite- he's probably ashamed you killed all of those people...and yet, think of what he did to your brother."

_She kept running, even though her knees ached and her eyes stung from tears._

"Rosie's not a murderer," Jason snapped.

_You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong-_

Odette laughed. "You three all have something in common," she said. "Death surrounds the three of you, ever notice that?"

Nico scoffed. "I'm the son of Hades, what do you expect?"

"Fair enough," Odette said, her eyes glinting dangerously. "Seems we aren't going to get anywhere."

"We can't exactly promise you all protection from her wrath if you guys walk away," Oscar said.

"We've already been targeted," Nico muttered.

Odette stood up, placing her hands into fists, pressing into the table. "You all need to leave."

Agnes nodded in agreement. "Just know that once you walk out that door, it's done. Your journey will be a lot worse from here on out."

"Yeah," Jason said hotly, standing up. "Thanks for that."

"Percy and Annabeth are alive but god knows they can't survive in Tartarus for that long," she said. "If there's no cooperation between us, no understanding, then...there's no telling what they'll encounter down there."

Rosie's heart felt like it was dropping. "What about...that thing?" She gulped, thinking of that monster she saw that night. "Are you saying that thing is going to go after them?"

The three of them fell silent, giving Rosie her answer.

Jason huffed angrily, yanking Nico out of his seat, and dragging him towards the door.

Rosie stopped suddenly at the door, aware of the three of them staring at the back of her head.

She turned around, making eye contact with Oscar.

"If the gods don't help us…." she trailed off. "If they bail again...there's no way we can defeat her, is there?"

Oscar gave her a sympathetic look. "Without Percy and Annabeth? With the state you're currently in, experiencing what you did? No, Rosie, there's no way. She's coming."

What did he mean, the state she was currently in?

Agnes curtly nodded. "We can't rely on the gods, Rosie," she said, extending her hand towards her. "If you change your mind, we'll know. Door is always open."

* * *

Her fingers burned as she clasped them around her mug tighter, hardly aware of the shouting voices around her in the mess hall.

"I don't understand," Hazel said, her face coated in fear as she shook her head fiercely. "Demigods are _helping _Gaea?"

"The astrolabe?" Frank asked, his eyebrows furrowed and voice jumping an octave. "Why would they want that piece of garbage?"

"It's _not _a piece of garbage," Leo replied hotly, angrily stabbing his chicken. "Sure, it's broken, but I'm going to fix it! And I'm not giving it to some group of brainwashed earth children!"

"Guys," Piper cut in forcefully, the charmspeak evident in her voice. "Everybody calm down." She glanced over at Jason, Rosie, and Nico, all of whom had fallen silent since telling their story. "I want to hear what you three think."

"What is there to say?" Nico said, shrugging. "They want something we have, and obviously they want it for some kind of evil intent."

She wasn't sitting in the mess hall anymore. All it took was a tiny chill down her back, sending her back to that pit, that pit where she felt a darkness tug at her.

_Nico couldn't reach them. No matter how far he reached, his fingers were always just out of grasp. _

_The rumbling of the cavern got louder, but was nothing compared to Annabeth's screams._

"So we don't give it to them," Hazel said nervously. "We protect Leo's piece of garbage."

"Hey!" Leo said angrily.

"It's not the astrolabe I'm worried about," Jason said, shifting in his seat. "Those kids...there's gotta be something there, forcing them to do this."

"What, you think they're brainwashed or something?" Frank asked.

Her friends' voices were drowned out by a slight buzzing in her ears.

_She could see Percy's face, fearful but fixed in determination. _

"_Let me go, Percy," Annabeth pleaded tearfully._

"_Never."_

"I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe?" Jason shifted uncomfortably again. "I just don't think-they're kids our age, you know? I don't think they could possibly be helping Gaea, not without some kind of coercion."

Piper narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't know," she said. "It wouldn't be unheard of."

_Two Poseidon children will go on the quest. Only one will come out._

_I'm sorry, Percy, I'm so sorry-_

The group paused, a silence falling over the table.

"What?" Jason asked wearily.

Rosie never noticed how dark the circles under his eyes were.

"_Together."_

_She could still see it so clearly in her mind. Percy and Annabeth tumbling, darkness swallowing them whole as they fell._

"People can do evil things without being forced to," Piper replied. "They're not excluded just because they're demigods."

Jason shook his head. "No," he said. "There's gotta be something else. Romans do what they think is right. There must be something convincing them that this is right."

Piper laughed humorlessly. "Yeah? How about the Romans chasing us down?"

Jason frowned. "Like I said," he replied coldly. "That's what they believe to be is right- it's from their perspective."

"I'm sorry, I can't keep up," Piper said angrily. "Are you a fan of the Romans or not?"

_The guilt was consuming- her body ached with it._

Jason's face hardened, but Piper had a point. Jason hated being a leader and seemingly hated the Roman ideals, and yet here he was defending them, refusing to believe someone could just be evil for the sake of being evil.

"Piper, come on," he pleaded.

_Falling falling falling-_

"Freckles?"

Leo's voice brought her back to the room, the pit slowly disappearing from view.

"Huh?" She said softly.

"Are you okay?" He gave her a concerned look. "You, uh, were kinda staring off into space."

She now had everyone's attention- they were all staring at her with clear concern.

"Yeah," she said quickly, attempting to appear perky and upbeat. "I'm..." _Guilty. Numb. Broken. _"All good- I'm all good."

"Any thoughts on...this?"

She raked her mind for something, anything to say.

"I...I think we should all break for the night," she said weakly. "Maybe get some rest?"

Piper stood up suddenly. "Fine by me," she grumbled, leaving the mess hall in a hurry.

"I'll...I'll go check on her," Hazel offered, following Piper as Jason sunk into his seat.

Nico stood up, throwing down his napkin. "We never should've gone," he said angrily, glaring at Rosie.

"Nico-" Frank started.

"We're running out of time, and I am _not _going to be the reason Percy and Annabeth die."

"Come on, man, lay off her," Leo jumped in, glancing at Rosie protectively.

"Now we have even more of a target on our backs, all because Rosie started seeing some things. We had to worry about the Romans, and now we have to worry about demigods on Gaea's side." His voice was increasing in anger, as he leaned forward, fists on the table.

"Nico…" Jason's tone was cold and warning.

"You are _nothing_ compared to him!" His voice cracked angrily, as Rosie flinched in her seat. "You are _weak_, Rosie! It shouldn't have happened to him!" His voice caught on the last word, as he let out a single sob.

Leo's chair went crashing to the ground with a thud as he jumped up, an anger in him that Rosie had never seen before. His sleeves had little flames sputtering out from them.

"That's enough," Leo said quietly.

Rosie sunk into her chair, saying nothing but thinking one thing to Nico's outburst: _You're completely right._

Jason and Frank exchanged concerned looks. Frank stood up, placing a firm hand on Nico's shoulder. "Let's take a walk," he offered helpfully. "I think Coach could probably use some help on deck."

Nico rolled his eyes, leaving without another word.

"That kid," Leo snarled, picking up his chair and throwing himself back down in it. "He thinks he can just go around with his I'm-so-moody-and-mysterious-act-"

"He didn't mean it," Jason said gently. Rosie could feel his eyes on her, as she stared at the ground. "Those kids, they rattled him-"

"He didn't have to take it out on Rosie," Leo snapped.

"_Let me go, Percy."_

"_Never." _

_She just wanted to stop seeing their faces. _

"He's not wrong," she muttered, picking at a loose thread on her pants.

Leo and Jason both snapped their heads towards her.

"No, hey, Freckles, come on," Leo pleaded. "You're strong, you've got the whole earthquake thing-"

She hadn't caused one since the cavern.

"He was saying those things because he was mad, Rosie," Jason comforted. "Not because he was right."

"Right…" she said weakly.

_Falling and falling and falling-_

"Leo, you mind if I talk to Rosie for a second? Alone?"

Leo hesitated. "I...I, um-"

"It'll be a second, then she's all yours. I promise."

He nodded. "I'll be in the engine room if you need anything," he said, shooting Rosie one final protective look.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Jason asked, shooting her a measured look once Leo left. "Maybe...maybe you want to talk about that restaurant Agnes mentioned?"

"Not even a little," she laughed hollowly, staring down at her long-gone fingernails.

"We've all done bad things, Rosie," Jason said. "It hasn't been our fault- the gods have orchestrated a lot."

"So you think they're right?" Rosie asked tearfully, looking up at him. "That this is a hopeless cause because the gods are rooting for us to fail? We shouldn't even bother?"

"_No_," Jason answered quickly. "Rosie, come on-"

"I don't want to be interrogated, okay?" She shot back angrily. "What happened at the restaurant is none of your damn business."

"Okay," Jason said gently. "I'm sorry."

"Alright."

"I'm sorry Nico said those things. I can talk to him if you want."

"Don't bother," she said. "It's not like we were on our way to becoming best friends." She paused. "You and Pipes okay?"

Jason shrugged. "We will be."

"I don't know how you do it," she admitted, half-hysterical in her tone. "Be with her, love her when all of _this _is going on, not knowing what the hell tomorrows going to look like, thinking everything's going to be _okay_-"

"Rosie-"

"Aren't you afraid?" She asked. "How are you not _terrified_ that something's going to happen to her?"

Jason paused, a charged silence in the air.

"You care about Leo." He said it softly but slightly accusingly.

She laughed nervously. "Well, yeah, we're friends...friends care about friends..."

Jason knew- she already knew that. She could tell by the look on his face.

"Rosie..."

_No more tears._

She pushed away all the images: Leo, Percy and Annabeth falling…

Time to push it all away.

"Hey," she said softly but firmly. "Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna go see how fast we can run down the hall in our socks?"

He smiled. She could sense that he knew she wasn't ready to talk about this. She didn't even know how she felt about anything anymore.

"Let's do it."


	10. Pop Goes the Satyr

**radoddish- !**

**SEASBLU- hahah good!**

* * *

"Try it again."

"I don't think I can."

"Try."

"Rosie, I'm tired."

"Sounds like an excuse to me."

Hazel sighed, frustrated as she took Coach's baseball bat back from Rosie. She squinted in concentration, staring intently at the baseball bat. After a few seconds, she groaned.

"I can't do it!" She grumbled, throwing Coach's baseball bat to the ground.

Sleep wasn't an option for Rosie tonight- everytime she got close to it, a pit would inevitably develop right before her eyes, the familiar darkness washing over her. She managed to catch Hazel right after she got off duty, wanting to squeeze in some extra Mist practice. In the few times Rosie and Hazel had gotten together for Rosie to teach Hazel mist control, they had absolutely made no progress.

Rosie picked it up from Hazel's bedroom floor, extending it back out towards her. "Again."

She crossed her arms. "I can't."

"Hazel, come on, I know it's frustrating but-"

"I can't do it!" She exclaimed, tugging her hair with aggravation. "I look at Coach's baseball bat, and all I see is _a baseball bat_. Not a hot dog bun, not an _actual dog_, but a baseball bat! It-it's impossible!"

"It's hard in the beginning. It took me forever-"

"I come from a time where there were no cell phones or computers or opportunities for people like me- I can hardly picture today's world, let alone imagine something that isn't real."

Rosie rolled her eyes. "Come on, we're from a world of monsters and _gods_\- you're telling me you can't picture Coach's bat as a hotdog bun?"

"Nope." Hazel flopped down onto her bed, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Have I suggested knitting yet?"

"I already know how to."

"Right-sorry." Rosie sighed. "It's like I said. The Mist is about-"

"Creating what I want to see," Hazel finished. "Yeah. I know."

"Hazel…." She didn't know how to bring this up without seeming...well, terrible. "I-I can't help you if you don't open up. I don't know you that well. The past...you need it to learn the Mist. Then...then I can help you."

"I don't know if I want your help." The minute the words were out of Hazel's mouth, she gasped, looking up at Rosie.

Rosie said nothing.

"I'm sorry," The words rushed out of Hazel's mouth. "I didn't mean that, I just-"

"No...it's fine. I don't think anyone wants my help after today."

"Frank told me what happened with Nico. I'm sorry about him. He's stressed, just as much as we all are."

"Right," she said curtly, leaning against one of her walls. "I know what he's thinking- I'm the wrong Poseidon kid." She wasn't Percy. Sometimes, she felt more like a painful reminder to everyone that he was gone.

"Rosie-"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's focus on the mist again."

Hazel nodded. "We're running out of time," she said miserably. "What if I can't learn in time?"

"You will."

Hazel rolled her eyes, playing with her sleeve.

"What? What is it?"

"You sound like _Jason_."

The way Hazel said Jason's name bothered her- really bothered her.

"What's up with you two? I thought you were getting along better."

"Forget I said anything," she said quickly, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Come on. It might be nice knowing I'm not the only one people have an issue with on board."

"He's...he has a lot of hidden potential. It's scary...I don't think he's aware of what he's capable of."

Rosie felt a small smile form on her face. "You obviously haven't heard the story of Jason headbutting a cyclops in the groin."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing- sorry."

"Forget I said anything- I shouldn't be telling this to you of all people, you're best friends-"

"We are. Which is why I'm telling you he's a good guy. He's...he's going through some sort of identity crisis right now, but I swear you can trust him-"

"I just can't help but think that he's the final play."

"Final play?" She asked in confusion.

"Think about it." She hesitated. "Hera made her first move with Jason...he might be the final one, too."

_To storm or fire the world must fall._

"Huh…." She didn't want to admit it, but Hazel had a point.

"Are you okay?"

Rosie gulped, nodding. She picked up Coach's baseball bat, handing it back over to Hazel. "Just imagining this as a hot dog bun- go again."

* * *

Rosie quietly slipped back into her room a little after two in the morning.

She had just managed to feel drowsy when her door suddenly slammed open. She let out a terrified yelp, sitting up to see Frank stumble into her room.

"Frank, what the _hell_-"

"Get up!"

"What?!"

"Get up, it's Hazel!"

Rosie flung off her covers, clumsily following Frank out of the room and down the hallway. A small crowd had congregated outside of Hazel's room.

Inexplicably, Leo looked like he was trying to hold in a laugh.

"Hazel, it's alright-" Piper was saying.

"Get it out!" Hazel shrieked hysterically, flailing on top of her bed.

"Get _what_ out?" Frank asked, coming to a short stop, as Rosie smacked right into his elbow.

"Ow!" She exclaimed angrily, holding her stomach in pain.

"A weasel," Nico said flatly, glancing over at Rosie. "You have anything to do with this?"

Sure enough, a tiny, white weasel was scampering erratically around Hazel's room, as Jason ran around, attempting to catch it.

"Man, this thing is fast!" Jason grumbled, stumbling.

"Are you serious?" Rosie asked Nico, feeling a wave of annoyance at Junior Grim Reaper.

"It's a simple question," Nico said, shrugging.

"Where would I even get a _weasel-_"

"Got it!" Jason exclaimed, holding up the weasel with a triumphant grin.

"I'm going to be sick," Hazel moaned, clutching her stomach as she ran out towards the bathroom.

"Hazel!" Frank exclaimed, beginning to follow her. He stopped short by Leo, whipping around with a glare. "Are you humming '_Pop Goes the Weasel_'?"

Leo feigned shock. "What?! No-"

Frank rolled his eyes, pushing past Leo and following Hazel.

"Aw, come on, guys, I was kidding!" Leo sprinted after the two of them, disappearing from view.

"Uh, guys?" Jason was still standing in Hazel's room, looking slightly uncomfortable with the weasel. "What should I do with our little friend?"

Piper glanced at the weasel. "I don't know, where did he come from?"

Something Hazel had said to Rosie resurfaced in her mind. "Oh god," she said. "That's Hecate's weasel- the one who told Hazel she had to learn Mist control."

"Why'd she send her weasel?" Piper asked, frowning.

"Only one way to find out," Nico said, taking the weasel out of Jason's hands. The weasel hissed angrily.

Nico turned to Rosie, and before she knew it, she was holding the furry little guy.

"Wait," she said, panicked. "I don't want this!"

"Take him to Coach," Nico instructed. "He might be able to communicate with it."

"Why me?" She whined. "Can't Frank just come in here and communicate with it?"

"Frank's a little busy right now," he snapped. "Go ask Coach- you are the one who knows where this rodent came from, after all."

"It's a weasel," Piper corrected, rolling her eyes.

Rosie sighed, defeated. "Fine," she muttered. "I hope weasels don't bite…"

She walked down to Coach's cabin, holding the weasel a decent length away from her body.

"Coach, we got an animal control situation," she joked, approaching his door.

She paused, realizing it was ajar. She could hear Coach's voice- it sounded like he was talking to someone on the phone.

"No, hon, I know. Honey, it's great news, it's just-" Coach broke off with a tiny sob.

Rosie froze in her tracks- who was he talking to? And why did he sound so upset? She had never heard Coach sound 9like that.

She started backing away. The weasel angrily squeaked in her hands, giving her location away. She groaned.

"Hello?" Coach gruffly barked. "Who's there?"

"Uh, hi. It's me, Rosie," she said lamely.

She heard a sniffle, and suddenly, the door was pulled open, as Coach poked his head out.

"Reiger? What do you want?" He angrily asked. He faltered at the sight of the weasel in her hands. "Why do you have a weasel?"

"Long story- I was hoping you could talk to it."

Coach sighed, and Rosie noticed how weary he looked. She wondered, again, who he had been talking to.

The weasel squeaked, as Coach nodded intently, rolling his eyes slightly. Coach angrily chattered back, making Rosie feel like she was watching a tennis match.

"Uhh, so what is he saying?" she finally asked, wondering when she could finally put the weasel down.

"She."

"What?"

"It's a she, Reiger. She says she's here to see how it goes."

Rosie raised her eyebrows. "What does that mean?"

Coach sighed. "How should I know? Weasels are notoriously vague! Now, if you'll excuse me…" He shifted uncomfortably. "I've, uh, got some things to take care of…"

"Coach?"

"What?"

"If you, uh, ever want to talk ...I'm...I'm here. You can talk to me." Here she was, standing with a weasel in her hands and offering Coach emotional support: what had the world come to?

Coach paused for a second, like he was thinking it over. He suddenly let out a short burst of laughter, clutching his side.

"When satyrs fly," he told Rosie, slamming the door forcefully in her face.


	11. A Turtle's Race

**AyeraeW- aw thanks so much! glad you're enjoying!**

**SEASBLU- literally same!**

* * *

_Her feet dangled beneath her, as she dug her fingernails into the ground above. She could feel a magnetic force, pulling at her chest, pulling her towards the darkness. She was struggling- she could feel herself slipping._

"_Help!" Her voice echoed throughout the cavern. "Somebody, help, please!"_

_A figure appeared above her. She felt relieved- it was Percy._

"_Percy, thank god!" _

_Percy frowned down at her. He looked disappointed, making Rosie's heart drop. _

"_Percy-"_

"_I can't help you. Not after what you did."_

_She could feel herself starting to slip further._

"_Percy-" she managed to choke out. "I'm sorry, please help me-"_

"_No can do, Ro." _

_Percy reached out to her hands, easily pushing her off the ledge._

_Rosie went screaming as she plunged into the darkness, feeling nothing but open air around her. _

_The pit led to the sky, as she picked up speed continuing to fall, the wind rushing in her ears.  
_

_She kept falling._

She woke up with a start, sitting up in her bed with a gasp.

Shuddering, Rosie went out into a hall. Next to her room, Piper shuffled out into the hallway, yawning.

"Morning," Piper muttered sleepily. "Sleep well?"

"Uh-huh," Rosie said, rubbing the goosebumps on her arm. "Great. How about you?"

She shrugged. "No complaints. Is the weasel still here?" She peered around the hallway nervously.

"I dropped it off with Hazel last night."

"Did Coach say why it's here?"

"To be a pain in our asses."

"What?"

"Nothing! Something about trials and tribulations, blah blah blah...vague as per usual!"

Piper narrowed her eyes at Rosie. "Are you alright? You've been...off lately."

Time to quickly change the subject. "Me?" Rosie waved her off nonchalantly. "Fine. Coach, on the other hand…" Sorry Coach- she was going to throw him under the bus. "I'd be worried about him."

"Coach?" Piper asked, successfully distracted. "What's up with Coach?"

"I don't know, does he seem a little...upset to you?"

Piper paused. "Coach, having actual emotions? I don't know about that…why do you ask? What happened?"

Turns out she wasn't ready to have this kind of conversation this early in the morning. "Uh-well-"

A door to their left opened, the two of them jumping as Jason walked out.

Thank god. "Hey, look, it's Jason!" Rosie exclaimed wildly. "Let's talk to him now!"

Jason gave her a weird look. "What?"

"You two have a lot to talk about, I'll be on deck," she said hurriedly, walking away before either of them could protest.

If there was one thing she could compliment Leo on, it was that he had the right idea by talking to something that was nonhuman.

She found him on the deck, turned away from her as he tinkered away on his Wii controller and chatted with Festus, who croaked back at him mechanically occasionally.

"I know, buddy-" He broke off, grunting and hitting a button on the remote. "She hasn't been the same."

Festus creaked unhappily.

Rosie paused, feeling a sense of dread wash over her. Was Leo talking about her with their masthead?

"The fall…" Leo paused again. "I think it messed with her more than she's letting on."

Rosie started to march forward, ready to tell Leo off.

Suddenly, the ship lurched forward, sending Rosie crashing into Leo. The two of them went falling to the ground.

"Ow!" Leo yelled from underneath her. "What the-"

"Sorry!"

"Get off me!" Leo gritted out angrily. "Hurry!"

Rosie rolled her eyes. "Give me a second-"

Leo's face dropped into a panic. "Hurry, Rosie!"

"What is your problem?"

"Gah, it's eating the oars!" Leo pointed to something in the water.

Rosie glanced at what he was pointing at, her jaw dropping in shock.

What she was looking at wasn't a turtle- no, that word would be an understatement. She felt like she was looking at a continent, an enormous, solid mass of rock and land. Her stomach leaped at the sight of the turtle's head- it could easily swallow the entire ship in one bite.

The crew members immediately jumped into action. Jason came out of nowhere, sword in hand and ready to charge the turtle. Frank and Hazel ran up to the stern, Frank unsheathing his quiver and bow.

Piper appeared at Rosie's side, her cornucopia in hand. "Eat this, you stupid turtle!" she exclaimed, shooting out a roasted ham. Her aim, however, was a little poor, the roasted ham hitting Leo in the head with a loud smack.

"Beauty queen!" He complained.

"Sorry!"

Leo's anger disappeared as he glanced at the turtle again. "Don't let it eat the oars!" He wailed.

The turtle, not surprisingly, ignored him, snapping off half a dozen oars.

"Stop it!" Leo moaned.

Rosie spotted Coach running around on the turtle's shell, whacking it uselessly.

"Take that, ya stupid snapper!" Coach yelled, wielding his baseball bat.

Jason flew from the stern, landing on the turtle's head. He tried stabbing its head, but his sword slipped, as if the surface was too slimy. Frank shot several of his arrows at the monster, but to no avail. Piper kept gleefully shooting her cantaloupes at the turtle.

"Rosie, I could use a little help!" Jason shouted from the monster's head.

His voice snapped her to action.

"Right!" She exclaimed, rushing forward.

This was a sea creature, and she was Poseidon's daughter.

She pushed away the thought of how much she wished Percy was here, focusing on the water, willing it to move.

After a few seconds, a small wave sputtered up into the air. Rosie drew back at the sight of it, confused as to why it was so..._weak_.

She doubled down, concentrating even harder on the water. Slowly, it was becoming increasingly clear to her that something was _wrong_. She could create waves nearly ten feet tall in the past. Right now, the waves she was creating were minuscule, no matter how hard she focused.

"Rosie?" Jason called out again.

"I...I'm…." _Something is wrong. _She could only will the water to move weakly. She drew in a hushed breath, unaware of what was going on. "I…he's too strong! I can't-" It was a lame excuse, but it was all she had right now.

"How did it get so close?" Hazel asked, thankfully changing the subject.

"The stupid shell!" Leo yelled. "Must be invisible to sonar- it's a freaking ninja turtle!"

"What are we going to do?" Piper asked.

Leo ran his hand through his hair, a familiar gesture to Rosie: he was frustrated.

"I don't know, I don't know-"

"There!" A voice shouted. Rosie turned around to see Nico standing behind her, pointing at something. "Leo, can you get us to the straits?"

About half a mile to the east, a long strip of land ran parallel to the coastal cliffs. She couldn't quite tell, but the land looked wide enough for their ship to pass, but not wide enough for the turtle.

Leo lit up like a Christmas tree, nodding excitedly. "Yeah! Jason, get off that thing, I have an idea!"

Hearing these words, Jason immediately flew away from the turtle, gesturing for Coach to follow him. "Coach, come on!"

"No! I got this!" Coach said.

Jason rolled his eyes, grabbing Coach around the waist and attempting to take off. Coach, however, continued to thrash, causing Jason to drop his sword. The sword tumbled into the sea, disappearing from view.

Exasperated, Jason threw his head back. "Coach!" He whined.

"My bad, I was just getting a good crack at him!"

The entire ship shuddered as the turtle slammed its head into the hull, Rosie swaying.

"One second," Leo muttered, hitting some buttons on the console determinedly.

"I don't think we have a second!" Frank grumbled, firing his last arrow.

"Go away!" Piper commanded the turtle.

For a second, the turtle listened, dipping its head underwater. However, it returned, ramming into the ship even harder.

Coach and Jason landed besides Rosie on deck.

"You guys okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, fine," Jason mumbled. "No weapon, but fine."

She opened her mouth, ready to volunteer to get his weapon. She stopped herself at the last second, realizing it probably wasn't the best idea to be testing out her powers right now.

Leo spun his Wii controller wildly. "Fire in the shell!"

A giant explosion went off behind her, shooting the ship forward. Rosie lost her balance, falling to the ground. Hauling herself up, she saw that the ship was bouncing over the waves rapidly.

The turtle wailed in frustration, beginning to follow them.

"We'll never make it!" Leo moaned. "We need a distraction!"

Hazel's face brightened with an idea. "I got it!"

A flash of light appeared on the horizon, something streaking towards them. Rosie jumped at the sudden sight of Arion, Hazel's horse, on the quarterdeck. She felt a pang of jealousy, wishing she could easily conjure up Kasey.

Hazel mounted Arion. "Pipes, I could use your help with this."

"I'm beginning to hate turtles," Piper muttered, climbing onto Arion.

The two of them went off, zipping around the turtle, Hazel stabbing with her sword as Piper yelled off commands. As the ship safely passed into the straits, the turtle stopped at the entrance, glaring from afar.

A few seconds later, Arion came back on deck.

Hazel slid off her horse, receiving a big hug from Frank.

"Good work you guys!" Frank praised.

Piper shot Leo a look. "The ship has _jet propulsion_?"

Leo gave her a modest shrug, attempting to hide his grin. "Aw, you know...just something I whipped up in my spare time."

Rosie held back a laugh.

"What now?" Jason asked, glancing back at the turtle.

"Kill it!" Coach roared. "We got distance, we got ballistae, let's do it!"

Jason frowned. "Coach, considering you lost my sword, I think you've done enough. Also, I don't think the ballistae will work."

Frank scratched his head. "How do we even get out of here if we can't fly?"

"Wait and fix the oars!" Coach answered. "Or sail the other direction, you big galoot!"

Frank blinked, confused. "What's a galoot?"

"Weren't you listening, Frank?" Rosie scolded sarcastically. "You're a galoot." This statement elicited a glare from Frank.

"Guys?" Nico called from the mast. "About sailing the other direction? That...might not work."

He was right- the long strip of land curved in, meeting the cliffs. The channel ended in a V shape.

"We're not in a strait," Jason sighed. "We're in a dead end."

Hecate's weasel appeared, climbing up to the port rail. Hazel and Rosie exchanged concerned looks.

"This is a trap," Hazel announced.

Leo waved her off. "I don't think so," he said. "We'll make repairs. It might take me a night, but I can get the ship flying."

Piper shrugged. "On the bright side...the turtle can't get us here. We're safe."

As soon as the words left Piper's mouth, an arrow sank into the mainmast, six inches from her face.


	12. Sciron the Pirate Enthusiast

The crew scattered in several directions for cover, all of them except for Piper. Piper stood frozen in place, gaping at the arrow that had almost pierced her face.

"Piper, duck!" Jason whispered harshly.

"You just _had _to say that, didn't ya, Pipes?" Rosie complained from where she had thrown herself on the ground.

"Sorry," Piper squeaked in an embarrassed tone.

Frank squinted, pointing toward the top of the cliffs. "There's a single shooter up there."

"Who is he?" Leo asked nervously, shielding his eyes with a hand. "What does he want?"

"Guys," Piper spoke up quietly again. "There's a note."

A scroll was indeed attached to the arrow shaft. Rosie shook her head angrily, approaching it and untying it.

"Uh, Freckles?" Leo said worriedly. "Are we sure that's a good idea?"

She shrugged meekly, opening the note.

"What does it say?" Frank asked, peeking over her shoulder.

"It was then, ladies and gentlemen, that I found out Frank can't read," Rosie mused aloud.

Frank turned red. "I _can_ read-"

"Someone just read it already!" Nico exclaimed angrily.

Rosie shot Nico a glare before directing her gaze to the note. "First line: _stand and deliver._"

"What is that guy expecting, a pizza delivery?" Coach grumbled.

"Hush, Coach, there's more. _This is a robbery. Send three of your party to the top of the cliff with all your valuables. No more than three. Leave the magic horse. No magic, no tricks, just climb._"

"Climb?" Piper asked. "Climb what?"

Nico pointed. "There."

A set of steps was carved into the cliff, leading to the top.

"Not finished, people," Rosie chided. "_I do mean all your valuables. Otherwise my turtle and I will destroy you. You have five minutes._"

Coach scoffed. "Big deal, we can use the catapults."

"_P.S.,_" Rosie read montonely. "_Don't even think about using your catapults_."

Coach huffed. "Dang it! He got us," he muttered.

"Is the note signed?" Nico asked.

Rosie shook her head. "Nope."

Leo was studying the cliff, squinting his eyes. Eventually, he sighed. "That's not a good trajectory. Even if I could arm the catapult before that guy pincushioned us with arrows, I don't think I could make the shot. It's hundreds of feet, almost straight up."

Frank nodded in agreement. "My bow is useless too. I could never reach him with how high up he is."

Piper gulped, observing the arrow stuck in the mast. "He's probably a good shot. I don't think he meant to hit me. But if he did ..."

An uncomfortable silence spread among the group. Hazel caught Rosie's eyes, and she knew they were thinking the same thing.

"I'll go," Hazel volunteered.

Everyone turned to look at her, as Hazel glanced at Hecate's weasel.

Frank shook his head vigorously. "No, Hazel-"

"She has to," Rosie spoke up quietly, crossing with arms. "The weasel says so."

Leo raised his eyebrows. "I'm sorry, we're taking orders from the weasel now?"

"Guys, listen," Hazel sighed. "The robber wants valuables. I can summon things- gold, jewels- for him."

That was another thing- Rosie hadn't wanted to pry into Hazel's personal life, but she really wanted to know what the whole deal with summoning gems was.

"Is this really a good idea?" Piper asked.

Nico shrugged. "It's not like we have much of a choice." Nico diAngelo- the resident optimist of the _Argo II._

"I'll go with her," Rosie offered. She didn't know why she volunteered, but once she saw Hazel's grateful smile, she was glad she did.

Jason raised his hand. "I can go too," He said. "The letter did say three people. I can take you guys up and give you some backup. If we fall off those steps ...well, I can use the wind to help us out."

Hazel nodded. "Yes," she said cautiously. "I think that's the best plan."

"I just wish I had my sword," Jason mumbled. He looked at Rosie. "Think you could get that for me?"

Her thoughts raced as she tried to come up with a plausible excuse for saying no. "Uh-"

Thankfully, Hazel silently extended a hand out. Half a second later, Jason's sword appeared in her hand. She handed it over to Jason.

Jason's blue eyes widened. "How-What-how did you do that?! That was like half a mile!"

"Been practicing," Hazel said, not quite meeting Jason's eyes. "Now, I believe there's a robber we have to meet."

* * *

Rosie had never been a fan of heights. She tried not to dwell on this as the three of them climbed: Hazel, Rosie, and Jason to bring up the rear.

The weasel came along too- Rosie wasn't sure why it had to, but didn't argue it. It- Gale, she had to remind herself the weasel had a name- scampered ahead eagerly, leaving the three of them behind.

"Going as fast as I can," Hazel muttered in an annoyed tone.

"So," Jason began causally from behind Rosie. "Hazel. This, uh, controlling the mist thing- any luck with it so far?"

"No," Hazel said. Rosie detected a noise of frustration in her voice.

"You'll get it," Jason said nonchalantly, but clearly genuine.

Hazel paused in front of Rosie, and Rosie knew what she was thinking: was he for real?

Yes, Hazel Levesque, Jason was among many things annoyingly encouraging and genuine.

"How can you know for sure?" Hazel asked, clearly not buying his words.

"I just know. I've got a good instinct for what demigods can do. Hecate picked you for a reason."

"Huh," Hazel said to herself, in thought.

"He's right," Rosie reminded her quietly. "You got this."

"We're almost there," Hazel said, quickly changing the subject.

"Thank god," Jason panted from behind Rosie.

"What, are you not enjoying my butt being two inches away from your face?" Rosie asked, feigning shock.

"I'm not talking about your butt!" Jason fired back, aggravated.

"I'm just saying, I don't like your tone-"

"Guys," Hazel interrupted. "We're here."

Rosie felt nauseous at the sight of how high they were at, once they finally reached the top. She glanced back at the ship, seeing that it looked more like a toy boat.

"Hello!"

Rosie turned around, only to see a man with a bow and quiver appear. Two dueling pistols were in his hands. Glancing at his outfit, she thought he kinda looked like a pirate. A red bandana covered the lower half of his face.

"Welcome!" He cried, pointing his pistols at them fiercely. "Your money or your life!"

"Um. Hi. Who are you?" Hazel asked.

"Sciron, of course!"

"Chiron?" Jason asked after a pause. "Like the centaur?"

Sciron scoffed. "_Sky_-ron. Son of Poseidon! Thief extraordinaire! An all-around awesome dude! But- Whatever. Not important. I don't see any valuables. I'm guessing you want to die?"

Of course, this guy was a son of Poseidon.

"Wait!" Hazel cried. "We've got valuables. If we give them up, how can we be sure you'll let us go?"

Sciron gave her an incredulous look. "I _promise_ on the River Styx, as soon as you surrender what I want, I will not shoot you. I will send you right back where you came from."

Jason didn't look convinced. "What if we fought you? You can't attack us and hold our ship hostage at the same-"

_BANG! BANG!_

Rosie jumped, all the hairs on her skin standing straight up as Hazel screamed. It took her a second to realize what had occurred.

Was Jason on fire? No, she realized that smoke was coming from the side of his head. Just above his left ear, she spotted a groove cut through his hair. One of Sciron's pistols pointed at Jason's face, while the other was pointed down. She guessed that his second shot had been aimed at the ship.

"Did you just shoot at our ship?" Rosie exclaimed.

Sciron squealed with laughter. "If you could see that far- which, obviously, you can't- you'd see a hole in the deck between the shoes of a particularly buff-looking young man- the one with the bow."

Hazel went pale. "Frank!"

Sciron shrugged. "Alright, if you say so. That was just a demonstration of my abilities." He glanced at Jason. "So to answer your question, yes! I can attack you and hold your ship hostage at the same time- wonderful, isn't it? Celestial bronze ammunition- deadly to you demigods. I'd kill you three first, of course. Then I would get some live target practice with your friends!"

Rosie could hear Jason gulp as he touched the mark the bullet left behind in his hair.

Hazel finally swooped in with some kind of response. "A son of Poseidon?" She managed. "I would've thought Apollo, with how well you shoot."

Sciron's eyes scrunched up- the man was no doubt smiling. "Thank you dear! It's all from practice. The giant turtle is because of my parentage, however. I could just drown your ship with a tidal wave, but that's not nearly as fun as shooting."

Rosie felt pissed off- she really did get the short stick as far as gifts from Poseidon went.

"Not that I don't love the pirate aesthetic you're going for, but what's with the bandana?" Rosie asked bluntly.

"It's a disguise. I can't have anyone recognizing me."

"But you introduced yourself," Jason reminded him. "You're Sciron."

Sciron's face fell. "Oh. Right. Forgive me, I'm afraid I'm a little rusty- back from the dead and all that."

Hazel's face lit up with recognition. "Theseus- he killed you once before."

Sciron's face soured. "You just had to mention him, didn't you?"

"What's this guy's story?" Rosie asked Hazel.

"Theseus met him on the road to Athens. Sciron would kill his victims by…" she trailed off, frowning as if she didn't quite remember all the details.

"Theseus cheated!" Sciron spat. "That nasty little- nevermind. I don't want to talk about him. I'm back from the dead now, after all. Gaea promised me the chance to stay on the coastline to rob all the demigods I wanted, and that's just what I'm going to do! Now! Where were we?"

"You were about to let us go?" Rosie offered hopefully, shrugging.

"No, I'm pretty sure that's not right. Wait! I remember- money. Give me the valuables, or your life."

"And if we don't?" Jason muttered angrily, clearly still annoyed by the missing chunk in his hair.

Hazel grabbed Jason's arm. "It's fine, Jason," she said. She glanced at Sciron. "You want valuables? I can get you valuables."


	13. Something Bad is Happening

"How _does _she do that?" Jason whispered in awe.

"I don't know, how do you constantly cause the lights to flicker?" Leo had recruited Jason's electricity powers one too many times in attempts to freak the rest of them out.

"That's different, I just mean-"

Rosie loudly shushed him, glancing over at Sciron. He was inspecting the mound of treasure Hazel had summoned, as she stood among it.

Sciron suddenly laughed gleefully, looking over at Hazel. "How in the world did you do that, my dear?"

"See!" Jason huffed to Rosie. "He's thinking the same thing I am!"

Rosie rolled her eyes, saying nothing.

"Just take the treasure," Hazel begged Sciron. "Let us go now."

Sciron chuckled, his eyes glinting venomously. "But this isn't all your valuables, now is it? I seem to sense that you're holding something special on that ship of yours...a certain ivory-and-gold statue?"

Rosie felt her body tense, as she stepped forward, ignoring Sciron's pistol pointed at her as she narrowed her eyes. "That statue is non-negotiable." After everything they had been through, there was no way in _hell _they were giving Sciron that statue. If they gave him that statue, her brother and Annabeth would've fallen into Tartarus for _nothing._

Sciron laughed again. "You're right, it's not because I must have it!"

"Gaea told you to take it, then," Hazel supplied.

"And if she did?" Sciron shrugged. "She told me I can keep it for myself! I don't intend to die again, friends. I intend to live a long life as a wealthy man!"

"It won't do you any good if Gaea destroys the world," Hazel muttered bluntly.

Sciron's eyes widened. "Uh, pardon?"

"She's using you," Hazel explained. "If you take that statue, we can't defeat her. She's planning on wiping all mortals and demigods off the face of the earth, letting her giants and monsters take over. Where will you spend your gold?"

"Assuming Gaea lets you live," Jason muttered under his breath.

"Huh," Sciron said after a brief pause. "Well then! Keep the statue."

Jason tilted his head in confusion. "We can just go?

"One more tiny thing," Sciron said. "Before my victims leave, I require a show of respect. I insist they wash my feet."

Rosie's laugh was cut off as Sciron kicked off both his boots. She quickly shut her mouth, glancing down in horror at Sciron's feet, puffy and white with tufts of brown hair sprouting from the toes. The smell suddenly hit her, a smell a thousand times worse than the Wilderness locker room, making her waver dangerously.

Sciron grinned at the horror of their faces. "So!" he said, wiggling his toes. "Which lucky two of you are doing this?

Rosie had never seen Jason look so pale. "You...you aren't serious, are you?"

Sciron frowned. "Of course I'm serious! Wash my feet, and we'll be done here. I'll send you back down the cliff- I promise on the River Styx."

Hazel's eyes narrowed at the bandit. "Could we have a moment here? We...we, uh, have to discuss who has the...honor of doing this."

"Shotnot," Rosie muttered under her breath, as Hazel shot her a harried look.

"Take two minutes," Sciron said with a shrug.

Hazel climbed out of the pile of treasure, motioning for Rosie and Jason to follow her. Together, they walked about fifty feet down the cliff, just out of earshot of Sciron.

Hazel leaned in urgently. "Sciron kicks his victims off the cliff," she whispered in a low tone.

Jason jerked back in surprise, as Rosie felt her muscles tense. "What?" he asked.

"When we kneel down to wash his feet," Hazel said. "Once you're….off-balance from the smell of his feet, he'll kick you over the edge of the cliff...right into the turtle's mouth. I'm assuming he'll just shoot the last person left."

Rosie felt the heat leave her body, glancing out at the water with a gulp.

Jason nervously wrung his hands together. "So we'll fight him," he offered. "It's three against one."

Hazel shook her head. "He's too fast," she argued. "He'd kill all of us."

"I'll fly," Jason insisted. "He can kick me, and I'll float halfway down the cliff… I can catch the both of you."

"You'll be too dazed," Hazel said. "Even if you can do it, Sciron's got good eyes. He will make sure we fall."

Jason raised his eyebrows, letting out a frustrated sigh. "So what do we do then?"

Out of the corner of Rosie's eyes, Gale the weasel appeared. It suddenly clicked for her, as she glanced at Hazel, who looked completely terrified. All she needed was the look on Hazel's face to confirm her suspicion: this was Hazel's test.

Hazel closed her eyes for a second, taking a measured breath. "We have to let him win."

Rosie said nothing, giving her a curt nod.

Jason's eyes widened, as he looked from Hazel to Rosie. "What?"

Hazel set her jaw, a look of determination on her face. "Here's the plan."

* * *

"It's about time!" Sciron cried impatiently. "You took forever!"

"Sorry," Jason feigned an apologetic look. "Big decision- Rosie and I are the lucky feet washers."

"Yup," Rosie gritted through her teeth, as Jason wrapped an arm around her. "That's us."

Hazel lingered behind them, a look of fierce concentration on her face.

"Excellent!" Sciron said, clapping his hands together.

Rosie stepped forward, trying to smile. "I'll take the left foot," she volunteered. "How...um, how exactly are we washing them?"

"Good question!" A squirt bottle and rag suddenly materialized out of the air. "You two can use this."

Rosie took the bottle, frowning as she read it. "Uh...this is glass cleaner."

"And?"

"Okay, sorry for bringing it up," she said, rolling her eyes discreetly.

Sciron grinned, facing the water and wiggling his disgusting toes under their noses. "Alright, then! I'll watch the horizon as you scrub- it'll make it so much more enjoyable."

Jason gritted his teeth. "Yeah, I bet." He shot Rosie a disgusted look as the two of them knelt by his feet, trying to ignore the ghastly smell.

She glanced down at his gnarled toes, taking a deep breath. Wringing the rag nervously in her hands, she closed her eyes, waiting for a kick- a kick that never came.

Cautiously, she opened her eyes, glancing up at Sciron. Sciron had a blank, fixed look on his face, eyes glassy and mouth in a perfect O. She turned to face Hazel, who was also frozen, her brow furrowed in concentration and her body unmoving.

She had done it...Hazel had manipulated the Mist. Rosie felt a surge of pride go throughout her body.

"Jason," she whispered, aware that he was beside her, eyes closed and mouth fixed in a grimace.

Jason shuddered violently, letting out a terrified yelp.

Rosie quickly grabbed him, giving him a gentle jolt. "Jason, it's okay-"

"Falling!" His eyes snapped open in fear.

"It's alright," she told him, looking him in the eyes, grabbing his shoulders. "It's not real- Hazel did it."

"She..she did?" Jason glanced over at Hazel with a concerned look. "Is she okay?"

"I think so, she's just-"

She was cut off by a familiar wail, as she and Jason quickly turned towards the ship. That wail was no doubt Piper.

Jason's face fell into shock as he launched himself forward. Rosie threw herself in front of him, holding up her hands in warning.

"It's alright!" she insisted in a panicked tone.

"Piper-"

"It's working, that means it's working!" Hazel had done it- their friends thought they had been kicked off the cliff.

Jason shot her a confused look, turning again to observe Sciron and Hazel. "What...what now?"

"Get us out of here, Sparky." They had to hide; had to wait for some sort of cue from Hazel.

Jason obeyed, grabbing Rosie's hand as the two of them hovered out of view.

That cue came from Hazel herself; she finally snapped out of her trancelike state, a noise of shock coming from her mouth.

Sciron unfroze, jerking back in surprise. "How-"

Hazel stood taller, glaring at Sciron. "Stand and deliver."

Jason swooped down, gracefully dropping Rosie down to her knees as Jason body-slammed into the bandit, sending him screaming over the cliff. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the giant turtle swallow him whole.

Rosie turned to Hazel, who had wide eyes and admittedly, looked a little pale.

"Hazel, that was..._amazing_."

Hazel swayed dangerously, her eyes fluttering closed.

Rosie paused in confusion, glancing over at Jason. "Hazel?"

Hazel fell to the ground with a thud.

"_Jason_!"

* * *

"Great Scott, what happened here?!"

They were greeted by the entire crew, as Hazel remained lifeless and limp, supported by Rosie and Jason.

"It was the Mist," Jason said, shaking his head. "I don't know. It was the weirdest thing, she just-"

"Later," Piper admonished him gently. "Let's focus on Hazel right now."

Frank nodded solemnly, taking Hazel from Jason and Piper. "Coach?"

"Get her inside, Zhang. I'll have her up in no time."

The crowd dispersed, following Coach under deck. Rosie stopped in her tracks, realizing it was only her and Leo on deck.

"You coming?" He asked, tilting his head toward the chambers.

Rosie wasn't sure why, but her entire body ached. Little black dots were appearing in her vision, cluttering her view.

"I….yeah. Give me a second, okay?" She winced in pain, slightly staggering backwards.

She sped off, ignoring Leo's confused protests.

Rosie ran off, a feeling of dread taking over her body. As she shut the bathroom door, the panic fully set in: what was going on?

With shaky hands, she turned on the faucet of the bathroom sink. She focused on the stream of rushing water, willing herself to concentrate.

"Come on..." she muttered. "Come on..."

The water sputtered weakly, twisting itself half heartedly.

She let out a frustrated groan. "Come on."

It wasn't the same feeling- her heart sunk with dread with this information. She didn't feel the familiar throbbing in her chest whenever she used her powers, the strength and force of it. It felt like her power had been weakened, like someone dimming a light.

The water hissed, as if it wanted to will itself to a different shape. At this one point, she just wanted something.

She let out a sob, turning off the water.

Something was wrong.

Deeply wrong.


	14. Lamenting in a Laundry Room

**_radoddish- yes i am!_**

**_SEASBLU- this chapter is pretty sad too, my bad_**

* * *

_She couldn't fight it. The waves were roaring, forcing themselves into her as she struggled to remain afloat. She kept fighting, kept thrashing, only to realize it was futile. _

_The salt water stung her eyes, the frigid temperature causing her teeth to chatter. _

_She could hear only one thing over the roar of the waves: Let go, Rosie. _

_She'd recognized that voice anywhere: strong and commanding, yet gentle and comforting. The voice that belonged to the man she used to idolize, her father._

_She wanted to believe him. She so wanted to surrender to the strength of the water, wanted to let it drag her away._

_She stopped fighting, as her body slowly began to slip into the water._

_Rosie felt her entire body shudder, the water disappearing as there was nothing but open air beneath her. She screamed as her body tumbled throughout the sky, falling and falling and falling-_

Rosie woke up with a muffled scream, kicking her covers off. She tried to calm down her heart rate, aware of the sweat piling on her forehead.

Sleep was out of the question, no doubt- she really could never fall back asleep after a nightmare. Usually, she would just go on deck to bother whoever was on duty. However, running through a mental list in her head, she knew who was on duty: Leo. She was in no state to see him; one look at her and annoyingly, he would immediately know something was wrong.

Instead, her eyes landed across the room, on something she had been ignoring for a while. She could hear Piper's voice chiding in her head, a daily occurrence from their Wilderness days.

Yeah, her laundry had been ignored for a little too long. After all, a demigod couldn't show up to battle with dirty armor.

In her opinion, the laundry room on the _Argo II _was one of the ship's hidden gems. With three industrial washers and dryers and shiny tile floors, it was definitely an upgrade from Wilderness'

dingy, cockroach-ridden laundry room.

With a pause near the door, she realized she wasn't alone. Leaning in ever so slightly, she could hear the fainting sound of sobbing over the droning of the washing machines.

Pushing the door open with caution, laundry basket in hand, Rosie saw Hazel sitting on the ground, face buried in her hands as she cried. Gems of all different sizes and shapes littered the ground around Hazel.

"I didn't think I would have to fight anyone for the washing machine at 4AM," she joked in a gentle tone.

Hazel stopped with a noise of shock, whipping around to face Rosie. She rubbed her face harshly, trying to wipe away her tears. "Rosie," she said in a surprised tone. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"What are you doing here?" In a way, it shouldn't have surprised Rosie: Hazel was utterly _fascinated _with the laundry room. Growing up, Hazel didn't have that kind of technology. Jason told her that they washed their clothes the old-fashioned way at Camp Jupiter, so this really was Hazel's first experience with modern laundry. Anytime they couldn't find Hazel, they'd find her in the laundry room, eyes rapt and glued on the machines as they churned on powerfully.

"I...I just needed a minute. I'm sorry, I'll leave."

Rosie sighed, placing her basket down. "Forget the laundry," she said, sitting down next to Hazel. She glanced down at one of the gems, a red ruby. "Do you need help picking these up-"

"Don't touch them!"

Rosie jerked back at the harshness of Hazel's tone. "Okay. I...I won't touch them." With hesitation, she asked, "Is this about today? Because you did amazing. The first time is always a little weird-"

"I don't want to talk about today, _ever_-okay?"

Rosie didn't understand where this was coming from. Obviously something was wrong, but she didn't want to push it.

An uncomfortable silence grew between them. Rosie felt underdressed in her _Looney Tunes_ flannel pajamas, as Hazel wore a tight-fitted, cotton nightgown.

"You know, Leo and I met in a laundry room." She smiled fondly at the memory, just wanting a way to fill the silence: getting pissed off at the new kid for messing with the washing machines, even though it was secretly _epic_.

Hazel's mouth became a flat line, as she picked up one of the gems, twirling it between two of her fingers. "I don't get your father."

Rosie's eyebrows shot up, confused by the sudden change of subject. "My-my father?" She asked, giving Hazel a look. "I...I don't understand." The last person on earth she wanted to talk about right now was her father.

"Sciron was _cruel_, Rosie. He would've killed our entire crew, no doubt. He was the son of Poseidon. You and Percy are both so kind, so good...I don't understand how you two could come from an utter _monster_."

_He wasn't always a monster_, she thought. She thought of the times her father read to her, doing silly voices for the characters. Or the countless piggyback rides he gave her, hoisting her towards the sky.

"And _Max_," she sobbed out. "How could he so easily sacrifice his son? Why are we helping a man like that?"

"Hazel-"

"I've been spared, Rosie. _Multiple times_. And I'm not even sure why, but I'm starting to think it's a punishment- that Pluto is doing this to remind me that terrible things are coming- that no matter what, I'll have to live with _this_." She violently gestured to the jewels surrounding her.

"This?"

"It's a cur-" Hazel broke off suddenly with a harsh noise of frustration. "It's my...Achilles heel. My….vulnerability."

Rosie glanced uneasily at the door. This should've been the time where she would suggest getting Frank or Piper. She wasn't good with this- she didn't know Hazel, not really. "Um…"

"I'm stuck with this awful thing. All I do….all I'll ever do...is hurt."

These words hit Rosie hard. She understood them completely: the pain of having the ability to cause unspeakable amounts of havoc, the ability she never asked for.

And yet, something was still concealed from view, something about Hazel that she didn't understand.

Hazel took a shaky breath, tears running down her cheeks. "All I do…" she muttered softly.

Inexplicably, the walls of the laundry room began to fade away, a gray fog appearing in front of her eyes. Machines disappeared, replaced with piles of rock.

A cave swallowed the laundry room whole. Rosie wasn't sure what this was; maybe it was some convoluted mist-like state, or maybe a memory of Hazel's.

Hazel clamped a hand over her mouth, a muffled sob coming through. Rosie realized where her eyesight was directed: another Hazel stood before them, an older woman at her side. This had to be her mother, sharing Hazel's dark eyes and cocoa-colored skin. The two of them clutched onto one another fearfully.

"_Don't be afraid, my dear."_

Rosie shuddered at that voice, instantly recognizing it as Gaea's. She placed her hands over her ears, trying to block it out.

Hazel stood beside her, her face frozen, fists tightly grabbing her nightgown.

"_Call upon the riches of the earth for me, Hazel. Put your curse to good use."_

Both memory Hazel and the Hazel standing beside Rosie flinched at the use of the word "curse". She didn't quite get it until she saw the piles of jewels popping up at Hazel's feet. It finally clicked for her: she was able to conjure cursed jewels.

"_N-no." _Memory Hazel's voice trembled, but she stood straighter, holding her head up confidently. "_I won't."_

"_Think of everyone you've hurt with this. Isn't time for some good, Hazel? Help me raise my son. All I need is you...and your mother."_

"_Mom?" _Memory Hazel's eyes became wide as she glanced over at her mother, who frowned as if she was caught in the act of something.

Her mother bit her lip, avoiding Hazel's eyes. "_I'm so sorry, Hazel. She said she needed me to raise her son- she promised she wouldn't hurt you."_

"_No!" _Memory Hazel shook her head violently, as the cave rumbled along with her. "_I won't help you!"_

"_Hazel, baby, it's okay_," her mother pleaded, glancing around fearfully.

"_Disobeying won't help you, Hazel," _Gaea cooed. _"My son will eventually rise."_

"_Not today he won't." _

The cave began to shake violently, giving Rosie a moment of terror: was she doing it? It was clear to her, however, that this was not Rosie's doing.

Memory Hazel held onto her mother, as dust rained down upon them. Jewels rapidly popped up, covering the ground.

The image of the cave began to disappear, as the screams of Hazel and her mother faded.

She thought the tile floors would appear again, that the hum of the washing machines would start up.

Her eyes, instead, landed on something else. No, not something-_someone_. She stepped back in surprise, seeing the blue eyes- _her blue eyes_. She would've thought it was a mirror, until she realized the scene unfolding out before them. Her stomach dropped at the sight of restaurant tables, chattering customers

For a second, she forgot Hazel was there.

"What...where are we?" Hazel whispered softly. "Is...is that you?"

She couldn't stop staring at herself- her thirteen-year-old self. She didn't think three years was that long, and yet, she hardly recognized herself standing there, scared eyes and oversized sweatshirt and unwashed hair.

"This is my Achilles heel," she managed to breathe the words out.

Thirteen-year-old Rosie spotted the monster before they did. The drakon slithered out from the shadows, baring its tongue menacingly. It had found her.

Here she was, sixteen years old and having seen far worse than this monster, _shaking_. Hazel was at her side, gripping her elbow.

"_Miss, are you alright?"_ She remembered this man, the waiter who had so much concern for her, seeing her knelt over in fear.

"_No-I don't-"_

Her words were cut off by the sound of rumbling, utensils and glasses starting to shake, as patrons started to glance around, confused.

"_Earthquake!" _The people in the restaurant began to scream, taking cover under the tables.

Thirteen-year-old Rosie was pushed around in the stampede of people, aware that something was wrong. She remembered the _fear_ of not knowing what was going on, only knowing with innate certainty that this was her doing.

She already knew what happened next: the ceiling crumbling, the screams. She didn't stick around to see it when it happened: she ran, of course.

It was a memory. She had to remind herself: she couldn't change it.

The restaurant started fading, a chill going through Rosie's body.

Out of the silence came a single word.

"Rosie."

She felt a hand grip her shoulder, gently rocking her.

She opened her eyes, finding herself back in the laundry room, Hazel facing her.

"Gosh, you're shaking," Hazel said, giving her a concerned look. She began rummaging in Rosie's laundry basket, pulling out a grey hoodie. "Is there a reason you have Frank's hoodie?"

"Tall people have the best hoodies," she whispered, hugging her knees to her body.

Hazel handed her the hoodie, a sheepish look appearing on her face. "I'm sorry about that- I-I just got sucked in...I'm sorry you had to see…"

Rosie said nothing, pulling the hoodie over her head.

"I...I hadn't realized that was what happened-back then, I mean."

Hazel nodded, tugging at a thread on her gown. "Yeah. Pretty awful, huh?"

Rosie shrugged. "Thirteen-year-old me can't argue."

Hazel gave her a sympathetic look, and for a second, they weren't two girls in the laundry room wearing their pajamas. They were connected by their pasts: two scared, broken girls who had no choice but to rise out of the ash of crumbling buildings and caves.

"I saw my father today."

Rosie couldn't hold back her surprise. "Really?"

Hazel laid down, staring up at the ceiling. Rosie decided to join her, her head up by Hazel's feet.

"He says I have great things coming- that's why he didn't take me back to where I belong."

"Hazel…"

"All it does is make me feel guilty. The pressure of it all...what if I fail?" She was speaking in a hushed tone. Rosie didn't look around at her, just kept her hands clasped on her chest. "I shouldn't be spared. I think of Nico- he lost his sister, you know. I think of Max, your brother- why should I be spared when they were taken so unfairly?" She let out a noise of frustration. "And to live with this thing, this _curse_….I don't even know if it's worth it."

"I know, Hazel. Trust me, I know." In a way, they were both cursed, burdened with things that seem to cause nothing but pain.

Hazel was being incredibly honest in this moment. Rosie wasn't sure why, but she felt compelled to be as well.

"My powers…." Rosie paused, taking a deep breath. "Something's wrong with my powers."

"I'm sorry, Rosie," Hazel said in a genuinely anguished tone.

"I hate them, Hazel. I really do and yet...I don't know who I am without them."

"Who are we, without all of this?" Hazel wondered aloud.

"I don't know." Rosie sighed. "Even if we survive this, even if we have normal lives...I don't know if I'll ever get used to the guilt."

"Yeah…"

A silence spread between the two of them. A question nagged at Rosie, begging to be asked.

"Do...do you ever see them fall?" Rosie was heading into off-limits territory, reminding Hazel of the awful moment they lived through together. She just needed to know she wasn't the only one seeing it every night when she closed her eyes.

"Almost every night," Hazel said miserably.

"Yeah. Me too."

Hazel suddenly sat up with a tiny gasp. "Your powers."

"What about them?" Rosie asked.

"When we were standing at the pit...did you-" Hazel broke off uneasily. "There's a force surrounding Tartarus, almost a kind of darkness…"

"And?" Rosie wasn't sure where this was going.

"The darkness...it's almost alive; it's _poisonous_. The longer you stand by it, the more...inclined you feel to do evil things. It sucks the life out of you; screws up your emotions. It's why Nico almost didn't survive Tartarus. It really, really messes with you."

"But I didn't fall into Tartarus." If anything, this was just making her more worried about Percy and Annabeth.

"Nico and I...we're born to handle that kind of darkness. For you to be so close..." Hazel paused. "I'm just saying that force does awful things to the mind. It's traumatizing…"

Rosie pondered on her words. It was true that she had felt numb since the incident. At first, she just assumed it had to do with missing Percy and Annabeth. She nearly chucked a salt shaker at Frank when he called her Ro at breakfast one day. Coffee only reminded Rosie of Annabeth now, how she would scarf down three cups a day.

But now, with Hazel's words in mind, maybe it was more than that. Maybe standing at the edge of that pit with that helpless feeling had sucked any kind of emotion out of her. After all, her powers were driven by emotion: she thought of exploding in anger at Lamia's slaughterhouse or causing the entire ship to shake after a nightmare.

"What do I do? How...how do I fix it?" Could she be fixed?

"Ask Coach," Hazel said after a pause. "Satyrs are good with emotions."

Ask Coach- she could do that. Maybe, just maybe, that would help. She couldn't afford to feel like this- not when they had two of their friends to save.

Rosie sat up, realizing something with a shock. "Hazel."

"Yeah?"

Rosie nodded toward the ground. "The jewels- they're gone."

Hazel whipped her around, letting out a laugh of belief. "I can't believe it. This...this has never happened before."

Despite everything that had occurred in this room, she felt an overwhelming sense of peace; she guessed that being in someone else's shoes did that.

Rosie gave her a small smile. "Maybe we aren't so cursed after all."

Hazel grabbed her hand with a smile. "We're going to be okay, Rosie."

And Rosie believed her.


	15. Time to Split

**radoddish-saying it's going to be okay definitely makes it not okay!**

**SEASBLU- hamilton!**

* * *

Coach, Rosie had decided, was holding out on them. As soon as he pulled out a sleeve of Tagalongs, she made a mental note to barge into his room more often.

"Girl Scout cookies?" She asked in surprise, giving him a questioning look. Where on earth had he gotten Girl Scout cookies?

Coach huffed. "What's the problem, Reiger?"

She held her hands up in surrender. "Nothing- I'm just more of a thin mint girl myself."

Coach pulled out a box of thin mints, tossing them over to her. "So you're telling me your powers have gone AWOL."

She winced- hearing it out loud made it so much worse. She pulled a cookie out of the sleeve, biting into it. "Yeah. I mean, they're still there but...weaker."

Coach chewed loudly, bits of cookie flying everywhere. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Gotta be honest, cupcake- I've never heard of that happening. Did Jackson ever experience something like that?"

Rosie sighed. "I don't know," she admitted, once again cursing her stupidity for holding such a long grudge against Percy. If only she had accepted him sooner- she had questions, so many questions she wanted to ask him. Her stubbornness was more often than not her vice.

Coach hesitated, a worried look on his face. "And you said only Hazel knows about this?"

"Yeah," she replied, discarding the box of cookies to the side.

Coach sighed. "Let's keep this between the three of us, okay? No telling Valdez or McLean." _Not like Leo and I talk anymore_, she thought "I don't want this getting out to...anyone. We don't want someone using this to their advantage."

Rosie laughed humorlessly, glancing down at her clasped hands.

"Reiger? You okay?"

"I don't even like these stupid powers and yet...I'm useless without 'em." She couldn't be Percy- the closest thing she could do was use her powers to protect the crew and ship. Now, she didn't even have that ability.

Coach gave her a stern look. "Drop and give me twenty!"

"Coach-"

"None of that negativity, Reiger, do it!"

With a sigh, she threw herself down to the floor of Coach's cabin, completing twenty push-ups.

Coach wagged his finger at her menacingly when she was done. "I better not hear you say that again- I mean it, cupcake."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, dad," she muttered under her breath.

Coach shot up from his desk chair, an angry look in his eyes. "What did you call me, Reiger?"

"Uh, sorry-"

"Who told you?!" He demanded. "Zhang blabbed, didn't he?"

Now she was really confused. "Coach, what?"

"Oh, I am going to _flatten _him-"

She didn't understand- why was he getting so fired up about being called a dad? And what did Frank have to do with it?

She thought of the tense conversation she caught Coach having. She was suddenly hit with a wave of realization, a gasp escaping her mouth.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "Mellie! Is Mellie _pregnant_?!"

Coach's eyes widened, as his eyebrows furrowed. "Uh...so you didn't know?" he said nervously.

"Oh my god, Mellie's pregnant!" Rosie jumped up with a laugh, clapping her hands together.

Coach huffed, looking extremely uncomfortable at Rosie's excitement. "Reiger, enough of that girly squealing!"

"You're going to be a dad!" She exclaimed, trying to wrap her mind around a mini Coach Hedge. "Oh, I _totally_ call babysitting."

"Keep your voice down!" He demanded in a panicked zone.

Rosie paused. "Hold up, wait. Are you telling me you told _Zhang_ before the rest of us?" She was slightly offended by this: after all, she and Coach went _way_ back.

"Not intentionally!" He barked. "A mistake, just like me telling you-"

"You old goat, you're going to be a dad!" She grinned, swatting him on the arm.

Coach's face fell, as Rosie's words hit him. "Yeah," He said softly. "I'm going to be a dad."

The smile fell off Rosie's face as she realized what Coach was thinking. "Coach…" she started cautiously. "You're going to be fine-"

He waved her off violently. "You kids come first. I have a duty to protect-"

"_Coach._"

"I have to be prepared. We don't know what's coming-"

"You're going to have a kid," she insisted. "A little baby satyr that makes homemade nukes and is terrifying good with war terminology."

"Reiger-"

"You'll tell glory stories of the _Argo II _over dinners of tofu tacos. I, obviously, will be at the forefront of these stories."

Coach gave her a small smile. "I hope so."

She smiled back at him. "Congrats, Gleeson."

He shot her a stern look. "That's Coach to you, Reiger."

"Right. Sorry." She started towards the door. "Thanks for meeting with me, Coach."

"And Reiger?" He called out as she swung open the door. "Don't worry about Valdez. Those things tend to work themselves out."

She froze, panicking and blushing for a brief second.

"Coach, have you been reading my diary?" She joked, turning back towards him.

"I know things. You think it's fun for a satyr to be stuck on this ship with all the raging teenage hormones?"

She paused. "Touché," she admitted, shutting the door and sitting back on Coach's bed. "How...how long have you known?"

"I felt a shift after we lost Chase and Jackson. I...I've been feeling a lot," he finished with a shudder.

Rosie felt slightly selfish hearing these words. She had never considered how much of a toll the crew's emotions had on Coach, who was especially attuned to emotions as a satyr.

"I...I'm sorry, Coach."

"Don't be, Reiger. It comes with the job. I've gotten used to the pain."

She nodded tensely. "Right."

"So," He said after a pause, clasping his hands together. "What are we gonna do about this Valdez thing?"

Rosie let out a shocked laugh. "_We_?" Coach didn't exactly strike her as the lovey-dovey type.

"I'm a softie for young love; so _what_, Reiger?"

"I'm not doing anything about it, Coach." That was obviously the only plan that made sense: she couldn't risk it.

"How come?!" He barked.

"It's like a fire... I'm not going to kindle it. Eventually, it'll die." That was her hope. Eventually, her feelings for Leo would just fizzle out.

Coach looked confused. "Dumb analogy when he can conjure fire, Reiger."

"What are you, an English teacher?" She asked, exasperated and a little embarrassed to be having this conversation with Coach.

"You _could _try talking to him."

"Or I could do more of those pushups for fun."

"Watch it, Reiger."

Rosie paused, looking away. She couldn't look at Coach when she asked this question. "I...I don't suppose you know how he feels?" Morbid curiosity was going to be the death of her.

Coach let out a sympathetic cluck. "Emotions...are all wonky. I'll tell you that in my experience boys are much harder to read than girls. Maybe it's that toxic masculinity thing- I don't know. And honestly, Valdez's mind _terrifies_ me; a lot of chaos in that kid."

"Right," she said, feeling even more embarrassed. "Forget I asked."

"I do know one thing: you're his best friend. I could sense then even back at Wilderness, even though the two of you were a _pain in my ass_."

Rosie grinned. "And one day I'll make up for that."

Coach scoffed. "I'm sure," he said sarcastically. "Now enough chitchat- you're late for duty, aren't you?"

She winced. "Yeah." She should've been on deck five minutes ago for duty with Frank and Piper. She closed her eyes briefly, aware of how long and sleepless the night had been.

"You been sleeping okay, Reiger?"

"Fine, Coach."

"Reiger-"

"_HELP_!"

Coach and Rosie both instinctively jumped up, heading for the door.

"That's Frank!" Rosie exclaimed to him as they bounded up the stairs. Behind her, she could hear Hazel's door opening, footsteps following them.

"What's going on here?!" Coach shouted, leaping across the deck to where a small crowd had formed: Frank, Piper, and Leo.

Rosie came to a stop as Piper whipped around, her face frozen in shock. "Jason's falling!" She shouted.

"_What_?" Hazel exclaimed, appearing by Rosie's shoulder.

"Look!" Leo pointed over the railing.

As Rosie peeked over it, her stomach dropped in dread, aware of the sight of Jason, quickly dwindling in size as he headed towards the water.

"What do we do?!" She asked in a panicked tone.

"Zhang, get down there!" Leo ordered.

"I'd never make it in time!" Frank argued.

"Sure, have flying powers but _never use them_-"

"Enough you two!" Coach barked at them.

"We're running out of time!" Hazel yelled urgently.

"What do we do?!" Rosie repeated.

Piper suddenly pushed Leo and Frank to the side, leaning over the railing.

"_WAKE UP!_" Piper screamed in her loudest charmspeak voice.

* * *

"So," Jason began by shooting a sheepish, embarrassed smile at all of them sitting around the Mess Hall table. "I want to first start off by emphasizing how _sorry _I am about falling asleep and almost falling to my death. Again, my bad."

Leo picked up his head from his pancakes briefly to snort. "Real _Jason_ move," he teased, fidgeting with the astrolabe at his side. He went everywhere with that stupid thing- once those kids had wanted it for some reason, it became his most prized posession.

"Alright, Leo, spare me the old man jokes."

Leo pouted. "I gotta be real, bro, I've got a ton."

Piper rolled her eyes, sliding a napkin towards Leo. "Write them down, Leo," she said. "We're just glad you're okay, Jason."

"What kind of soldier falls asleep on duty?" Coach grumbled through a spoonful of oatmeal.

"_Anyways_," Jason spoke loudly over Coach. "As I was, er, falling...I had a dream. A few, actually." He took a sip of tea before continuing. "First off, those dwarves from Bologna...they actually messed with the Romans a bit, definitely delaying them from coming to camp- they've been stealing supplies and sabotaging them."

Rosie glanced at Piper across the table with a sly grin. "Roman Jerk pulled through," she said, remembering their plea with Grant to help them stall the Romans.

Piper smiled softly back at her. "He did."

Jason raised his eyebrows. "Grant did this?"

"Who's Grant?" Hazel asked, confused.

Jason reddened. "Er, nothing," he said, looking down. "My, um, dream changed after that...I saw Reyna and Octavian at Camp with Rachel and Grover Underwood."

She had never met Grover, but knew that Percy spoke highly of him- Grover was for Percy what Piper was for Rosie.

"Underwood!" Coach exclaimed. "Good satyr."

"What did Reyna and Octavian say?" Frank pressed, leaning forward in his seat.

"Here's the thing," Jason said, sighing and running a hand through his shaggy, blond hair. "I know this'll sound weird. I'm not even sure I believe it, but...Rachel had a note. From Annabeth...from Tartarus."

A silence fell among the mess hall, as the news Jason was telling them hit them.

A note from Annabeth. That could only mean one thing…Percy and Annabeth were _alive_.

"The note...the note said that Reyna had to be the one to get the statue and bring it to Camp Half-Blood. Something about it being the only way to unite Greeks and Romans."

Piper shook her head, letting out a laugh of disbelief. "A letter from Annabeth," she said in amazement. "I don't see how that's possible-"

"They're alive," Leo cut in, list of jokes aside. "Thank the gods and pass the syrup!"

Rosie rolled her eyes at Leo's obviously sentimental nature.

"What does it mean?" Frank asked, a worried look on his face.

"It means pass the syrup, Zhang," Leo quipped. "These pancakes could use some more."

Frank slided Leo the syrup, shaking his head. "Reyna would never risk coming to find us," he claimed. "You guys know it's forbidden for us to come to the ancient lands. She'd be stripped of her titles."

"We don't even know if she could survive," Hazel mentioned. "Think of how hard it was for all of us to get here."

Piper caught Rosie's eye, and she knew what they were both thinking: Grant had managed to do it.

"Well, _duh_," Coach said. "We do have the satyr advantage." This made Rosie smile to herself.

Jason sighed. "Crossing the Atlantic is a hard journey. But if anyone can make it...It'd be Reyna."

Piper looked up from her cereal, giving Jason a little smile. "Well, I'd love to see Reyna again," she said. "How is she supposed to find us, though?"

"Iris message?" Hazel suggested.

Coach waved her off. "Those aren't working well," he said. "Terrible reception! I swear, every night I could _kick_ that rainbow goddess-"

He broke off suddenly, his face turning bright red. Rosie snapped her head up, realizing what he had done. She tried catching Frank's eye, who remained completely oblivious.

Leo shot Coach a shit-eating grin. "Coach? Who have _you _been calling every night, Coach? Hmm?"

"No one!" Coach snapped quickly. "I just mean- the thing is-"

"He means we've already tried," Rosie quickly cut in, Coach shooting her a grateful look. She noticed Leo's face scrunching up in confusion. "Gaea's probably interfering, anyway. Contacting the Romans is even harder. They're probably shielding themselves, right?"

Rosie looked down, avoiding the eyes of the crew members.

"Right," Jason said, sounding a little unconvinced. "Um-anyways. Reyna will find us. She mentioned that she's expecting me to go to a certain place on our way to the House of Hades. I forgot about it...but she's right. I need to go there."

"Where?" Piper asked.

"This place is called, um, Split. Uh, we should actually almost be there. Leo?"

Leo punched his intercom button, listening for Festus. "How's it going, Festus?"

Festus mechanically croaked.

"Ten minutes to the harbor," Leo translated. "Though I'm still not getting why we want to go to Croatia- especially a town called _Split_\- kinda ominous, don't you think?"

"Wait," Hazel cut in. "Why are we going to Croatia?"

Ever since their encounter with Sciron, Rosie had sensed the uneasiness everyone had around Hazel. They were no doubt intimidated by her- Rosie, however, had no trouble looking her in the eyes. She knew what it was like to be avoided because of powers- it wasn't fun.

"Technically," Leo interjected. "We've been in Croatian territory for the past day or so- all that coastline we've been sailing past is Croatia. I guess back in the Roman days it was called...what'd you say, Professor Grace? Bodacious?"

"Dalmatia."

Rosie involuntarily jumped, dropping her fork to the table with a clatter. Piper turned to her, holding in a laugh. Rosie reddened, quickly picking up her fork again.

Freaking Nico DiAngelo- she always forgot that he was there, scaring the crap out of her whenever he spoke.

Nico ignored Rosie, staring straight ahead at Jason. "Croatia used to be Dalmatia- a major Roman province. You want to visit Diocletian's palace, don't you, Jason?"

"Whose palace?" Coach belched. "And is Dalmatia where those Dalmatian dogs come from? That _101 Dalmatians _movie- man, I _still _have nightmares."

Rosie tilted her head in confusion at him. She _loved_ that movie. "Coach, why the heck would you have nightmares about that movie?"

Coach took a deep breath, like he was planning to launch into a huge speech.

"Nico is right," Jason quickly interrupted. "I need to go to his palace. Reyna will go there, because she knows _I _will go there."

"How come?" Piper asked.

"Reyna and I used to talk about Diocletian," he admitted. "We both kind of idolized him as a leader. We talked about visiting his palace- we knew it would be impossible, though. Traveling to the ancient lands is forbidden, but..we made a pact to go there if we were ever able to."

"Diocletian," Leo pondered, shrugging. "I've got nothing. Why is he important?'

Frank let out a shocked gasp. "He was the last great pagan emperor!"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised that you know that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Frank screeched in a high-pitched tone. "He was the last one who worshipped the Olympian gods, before Constantine came along and adopted Christianity."

"I didn't realize we were in history class," Leo muttered, sagging in his seat. Rosie thought of their Wilderness days, how they spent history class doodling and trying to launch spit balls at Isabel and her cronies.

Hazel nodded. "I vaguely remember something like that, Frank," she agreed. "The nuns at my school taught us that Diocletian was a huge villain, right along with Nero and Caligula." She glanced at Jason, suddenly confused. "Um...why exactly do you idolize him?"

"He wasn't a total villain!" Jason quickly went into defending himself. His hands started gesturing wildly with excitement. "I mean, yeah, he persecuted Christians which...wasn't great. He worked his way up from nothing by joining the legion. Demigods know he was son of Jupiter- the last demigod to rule Rome. He was also the first emperor ever to retire, like peacefully, and give up his power. He was from Dalmatia, so he moved back there and built a retirement place. The town of Split grew up around…"

Jason faltered as he saw Leo, who was using the pen Piper gave him to pretend to take notes.

"Go on, Professor Grace! I wanna get an A on the test!" Leo exclaimed.

Jason sighed wearily. "The abuse I take," he muttered under his breath.

"So why is Diocletian's Palace so special?" Piper asked.

Nico leaned forward, a creepy smile on his face. Rosie grimaced. "It's said to be haunted by the ghost of Diocletian."

"Who was a son of Jupiter," Jason said. "His tomb was destroyed centuries ago, but Reyna and I used to wonder if we could find Diocletian's ghost and ask where he was buried...well, according to legends, his scepter was buried there with him."

"Ah..._that_ legend," Nico said with a smirk.

"What...what legend?" Rosie asked nervously, not loving how into this Nico was.

"Supposedly Diocletian's scepter could summon the ghosts of the Roman legions, any of them who worshipped the old gods."

Rosie shuddered, thinking of the soldiers they encountered in Charleston.

Leo's eyes widened. "Whoa. Okay...I'm interested now. Might be nice to have an army of pagan zombies on our side when we go to the House of Hades."

"Not exactly how I would put, but yeah, sure, Leo," Jason said.

"We're running out of time," Frank reminded them "It's already July 9th. We have to get to Epirus, close the Doors of Death-"

"Which are guarded," Hazel interjected. "By a smoky giant and a sorceress who wants...well, I don't know what she wants. According to Pluto, she plans to 'rebuild her domain'. It's bad enough that my dad felt the need to come and warn me."

"We won't take long in Split," Jason reassured them. "But looking for the secepter is worth a try. When we get to the palace, I'll leave a message for Reyna, letting her know what route we're taking."

"You'll need my help," Nico quietly piped up.

Jason gulped, looking nervous. "Okay, Nico."

Piper nodded. "That sounds like fun- I'll come, too."

Nico shook his head. "No, Piper. It should only be me and Jason. His ghost might appear for a son of Jupiter, but it'll get spooked otherwise. I'm the only one who can talk to his spirit...not even Hazel can."

The ship's bell went off, Festus croaking loudly.

"We're here!" Leo announced. "Time to Split."

Rosie used her hand to muffle her laugh.

Frank groaned. "Can we possibly leave Valdez in Croatia?"

Jason stood. "Frank, you're in charge-"

"Frank's in charge?!" Leo exclaimed in disbelief.

"-in charge of defending the ship. You've got repairs to do, Leo. The rest of you, help out wherever you can. Nico and I…" Jason broke off with a sigh. "We've got a ghost to find."

* * *

**i love hearing your guys' thoughts on the fic so far! any predictions of what's going to happen? favorite parts?**


	16. Just Us Again

**radoddish- welllll...:D**

**SEASBLU- hahah i love your comments!**

* * *

"Funny how _now _you guys appreciate my knitting."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Shut up and put your hat on, Rosie."

Two days out to sea from Split, gray clouds had swallowed the sky. Waves had turned choppy, unresponsive to Rosie's controls. A chill had settled over the entire ship, hence the need for winter coats and Rosie's knitting.

"It's the scepter," Nico muttered, glancing at the scepter in his hand. Nico looked wildly out of place with the purple hat he begrudgingly wore. "It has to be."

Something had happened with Jason and Nico retrieving the scepter at Diocletian's palace. Both Jason and Nico had been nervous and jumpy- but wouldn't say why.

The entire crew was gathered on the quarterdeck, bundled up and shivering as the ship rocked violently. Rosie kept thinking of the children of Mother Earth, how they had warned them that Gaea was coming.

Hazel winced. "Need to-" she broke off with a gag, reminding Rosie of her tendency to get seasick.

"Yeah, go," Nico said, kissing her cheek. That surprised Rosie- Nico was hardly the affectionate type.

"I'll walk you down," Frank offered, slinging an arm around Hazel and helping her to the stairs.

As they disappeared from view, Nico brushed some ice off his coat. "I...I should put the scepter away. I mean, if it's causing the weather problem…"

"Right," Jason said, nodding. "Go."

Nico shot a nervous look at the rest of them, like he was afraid of what they would say once he left. Rosie defensively crossed her arms- she didn't get what Nico's problem was.

Leo sighed, pulling a screwdriver out of his belt as Nico left. "So much for the big meeting. Looks like it's just us again."

_Just us again._

She looked at her three best friends, feeling a rush of emotion pass through her. Their first quest was only seven months ago, and yet it felt like _years _had passed.

She glanced over at Piper, who was looking out at the sea with a worried look in her eyes. Piper was more confident, no doubt; no longer was she the girl who refused to raise her hand in class. She recognized her completely for what she was: a force to be reckoned with.

This quest had aged Jason a thousand years- his blonde hair had gone from a neat, crisp buzz cut to long and shaggy, in desperate need of a haircut. His eyes, once clear and with an overwhelming sense of calmness, were pained. Rosie knew this quest had been hard on him- his identity had been completely brought into question. But she wasn't worried- she knew he would figure it out.

And Leo…well, she already knew about Leo.

She looked at Leo, who was tapping his fingers against the ship's railing distractedly. That had to be one of her favorite sounds in the whole world- Leo tapping out Morse code.

She listened intently, wanting to know what he was tapping.

_R_\- that was definitely an R.

_O_.

No-it couldn't be. Did he even realize what he was tapping?

She smiled to herself as it hit her.

He was tapping out her name.

Tonight. She'd talk to him tonight. It was time.

"We're almost to Epirus," Jason said, distracting Rosie from her moment of revelation. "Another day or so, if Nico's directions are right- what are you smiling about?"

It took a moment for her to realize Jason was talking to her. She quickly bit her lip, shaking her head.

"Nothing- I just love freezing my ass out here with you guys."

Leo shook his head. "Weirdo," he decided, giving her an odd look.

"Guys," Piper cut in suddenly. "I've been thinking a lot about the prophecy."

Those words were enough to take away another ten degrees. Leo stopped tapping, as Jason and Rosie exchanged nervous looks.

"Um…" Leo hesitated. "Good things I hope?"

Piper was avoiding looking at any of them. "In Katoptris," she started. "I keep seeing that giant Clytius- the guy wrapped in shadows. I know we said his weakness is fire, but… everytime I see him, he snuffs out flames wherever he goes. Any kind of light just gets sucked into his cloud of darkness."

Leo threw his head back with a laugh. "Hey, just like Nico! Any chance they're related?"

Jason scowled. "Come on, man, cut Nico some slack."

Leo threw a questioning look at Piper and Rosie, and Rosie found herself drawing back in confusion. Since when did Jason defend Nico?

"What were you saying, Piper?" Jason continued tensely.

"Um...right. I was...I was just thinking about fire. I mean, we expect Leo to beat this giant because...he's so...um-"

"Hot?" Leo suggested with a grin.

"Perfectly flammable?" Rosie cut in.

"That line from the prophecy bothers me," Piper muttered. "_To storm or fire the world must fall._"

"Let me guess," Leo piped in. "You're going to say I'm fire. And that Jason is storm."

Piper nodded, although hesitantly.

Rosie could sense she was worried- something was bothering her. "So, what, Piper? Do you think one of them will endanger the quest...or destroy the world?"

"I...I think we've been reading that line wrong," Piper said. "The _world_...the Earth. In Greek, the word for that is…"

"Gaea," Jason finished quietly. "You mean, to storm or fire Gaea must fall?"

"Oh!' A wide grin appeared on Leo's face. "That's even better, then, right? Because then she could be defeated by either me or Jason!"

"That's not all, guys," Piper said quietly. She looked straight at Rosie. "Do you remember what Enceladus called you? On Mount Diablo?"

"Pipes?" Rosie asked. "What are you-" She broke off with a soft gasp. "Oh."

"What?" Leo's head whipped between the two of them. "What did he call you?"

Jason's face fell. "Earthshaker," he muttered quietly. "He called Rosie the Earthshaker."

"So...so what?" Leo asked in a shaky tone. "You think one of us is going to kill Freckles? Or that we're going to pitted against one another?"

"Or that one of us will kill Gaea," Jason said miserably. "And the other will die."

"Guys, come on," Rosie pleaded. No way was she going to tell them they were most likely on the right track. "We have no idea what the prophecy means, there's no point in driving ourselves crazy trying to figure it out."

"She's right," Piper said halfheartedly. "We don't know what it means. Heroes always get into trouble trying to thwart prophecies, anyways."

"Yeah," Leo muttered sarcastically. "We'd hate to get in trouble-we have it so good right now!"

"You know what I mean," Piper said, rolling her eyes. "You two might even not even be related to the storm and fire part."

That was another thing nagging Rosie- what if _she_ was the storm? Or Percy?

After a pause, Piper continued, "I mean, I hope I'm wrong. But the whole quest started with us and I have a feeling it'll end with us, too- for better or worse."

"Hey," Jason said, nudging her. "Personally, I _like_ us."

"Agreed!" Leo exclaimed. "Us is my favorite people."

Rosie couldn't help but smile at her friends. "We make a pretty good team, Pipes."

Piper smiled uneasily. A second however, her face drained of color as her smile disappeared. Rosie drew back at the look of fear on her face. "Leo, sound the alarm."

Rosie frowned at the sound of Piper's charmspeak, watching as Leo scrambled to punch the alarm.

Leo frowned as nothing happened. "Uh, I think it's disconnected. Festus shut down-gimme me a second to turn the system back on."

Piper looked panicked. "We don't have a second! Fire- we need vials of Greek fire. Jason, call some winds- warm, southerly ones!"

Rosie and Jason exchanged worried looks. Rosie shot forward, grabbing onto Piper's wrists. "Piper, what's going on? What are you-"

"It's her!" Piper screeched in fire, grabbing her dagger. "She's back! We have to-"

Before Piper could finish, the ship listed to port. The temperature dropped even more, sails crackling with ice.

Jason drew his sword quickly, but not before a spray of ice particles swept over him, freezing him in place. Rosie yelped, seeing his shocked, frozen expression.

For a brief moment, Rosie and Leo glanced at each other, both frozen in place by shock.

"Leo! Flames, now!" Piper commanded.

Leo flicked his right hand, but to no avail- wind swirled around him, dousing his fire. He looked at his hand in confusion, glancing back at Rosie.

Leo's eyes went wide. "Rosie, watch out!" he yelled, leaping forward and giving her a hard shove.

It happened so fast, almost too fast for her to process.

She fell back with a yell, feeling a harsh, cold spray of ice.

She looked up, just to see Leo getting blasted in the chest with a wave of ice. She watched in shock as Leo tumbled over the ship's railing and out of view….Leo was gone.

"_Leo!_" she screamed, aware of Piper's mouth dropping in horror.

Rosie began forward, only to hear a familiar, chilling female voice. "Not so fast, _ma c__hè__re_."

Rosie felt the ice creep up her body, watching helplessly as Piper screamed.


	17. An Overwhelming Absence

**SEASBLU- damnit, now i'm gonna have that song stuck in my head!**

**Maryam Claus- awww no thank YOU! such a nice comment!**

**radoddish- :DDDD**

**I hope you are all doing okay. I know these times are uncertain and scary right now, but I hope you can find some comfort in this fic like I do. Don't underestimate the value of kindness during this time- if you're feeling down or scared, look at all the kind acts occurring in the world right now. Be well. We're all in this together. **

* * *

"So Valdez is _gone_?" Frank, annoyingly, didn't seem to get personal space. He was right on Rosie's heels as she paced the deck, taking in all the damage of the ship. Piper had managed to defeat Khione and her brothers, but not before Khione used a wind bomb to push the ship halfway across the Mediterranean.

"Frank, bud, I know you're tall but _come on_, use your eyes." Mainsail- ripped. Rigging- destroying. God only knows what the state of the oars were. Her eyes danced, taking in all the damage. Part of her was mournful; this was, after all, Leo's masterpiece.

"But, where did he go? Is he coming back?"

"I don't know, Zhang," she said as her voice increasingly became more and more high pitched. "_He fell out of the freaking sky!_"

"Are you guys alright?" Piper appeared, Jason at her shoulder. Jason was still shivering, the color completely drained from his face. "You, uh, still have a little ice on your cheek."

"Fine," Rosie gritted, silently cursing herself as she wiped her cheek feverishly. "Thank god you were here, Piper- you really saved the day."

Piper shook her head, her mouth a flat line. "I could've done more- I didn't stop the bomb."

"Come on, Pipes," Jason said, coming closer. "You saved us. _And_ you woke up Festus."

That was true. They all looked at their figurehead, which was now _alive_. Rosie would never admit it out loud, but she was happy to see that old, Rosie-hating hunk of metal croaking away again.

Hazel appeared, slinging an arm around Piper. "We can't be too hard on ourselves."

Frank frowned, glancing around the deck again. "This is _a lot _of damage…"

Hazel sighed. "Again, we can't be too hard on ourselves."

Rosie found herself looking at the railing Leo tumbled over, still feeling the shove he gave her out of the way.

Piper gulped. "There's some things we should talk about."

Jason nodded. "Yeah. Nico and Coach are still below deck- let's meet them in the mess hall."

They began to disperse, heading towards the stairs. Rosie remained in place, still looking at the railing Leo tumbled over. She couldn't shake the dreams she had been having- when it was _her _tumbling through the sky.

"Rosie?" Jason asked, stopping by the stairs. "You coming?"

She snapped out of her retrieve, finally looking away from the railing. "Yeah, sorry...I'm right behind you."

They met in the Mess Hall, a particularly somber tone in the air. Leo was, after all, the class clown. He'd be the one cracking jokes to lighten the mood- Rosie leaned towards humor to cope, too, but it wasn't the same without her partner in crime. Instead, they all seemed to be glancing uncomfortably at the empty seat where Leo would be sitting. Is that all this quest was now- losing members of their crew, one by one?

"Okay," Piper began with a shaky breath. "So, good news first I guess...Festus is awake."

Nico leaned back, looking interested. "How did you manage to do that?"

Piper shrugged, a tiny smile on her face. "I don't know- I guess Festus has an emotional side."

"Well, Leo will be happy to see that…" Hazel's upbeat tone didn't mask the implication: Leo will be happy to see Festus, _if_ he came back. Rosie pushed that thought away.

"And...and bad news?" Frank asked, worried.

Nico snorted. "Well, for one thing, our ship is falling apart and we've been blown off course by god knows how much."

Rosie glared at him. "Will you _shut up_ already?"

An awkward silence fell among the table, the only sound being Coach's hooves from above deck, where he was on watch duty.

Jason sighed. 'Rosie-"

"_No_," she shot back. She turned to look back at Nico. "We get it- this quest is the _last place_ you want to be. But for the love of god, Nico, if I have to hear you say one more smart ass remark, I will take your precious scepter and shove it up your-"

"Okay!" Piper quickly cut Rosie off, shooting her a look. "Thank you, Rosie! So- bad news. Boreas has gone full AWOL."

"Seriously?" Jason asked. "He's working for Gaea completely?"

Piper nodded, clearly worried. "I don't know how easy it's going to be for us to travel, even if we do get the ship fixed."

Rosie perked up. "We will fix the ship." They had to- not only for the quest, but for the hope they would have to travel somewhere to save Leo.

"There's _so _much damage," Piper emphasized in a shaky whisper.

"We _can_ fix it. I-I can try...I watched Leo build this ship." Time to find out whether all those afternoons spent in the Bunker paid off.

Hazel nodded in encouragement. "She's right, Piper. If we all work together, I'm sure we can figure out Leo's madness."

"Leo's going to be fine, I'm sure of it," Jason piped up, looking over to Rosie. She quickly looked away, not a fan of how that statement was directed at her. "And as far as the winds go, I can try to communicate with the southern venti. Maybe they can help us."

"There's something else I should mention..." Piper began.

Frank moaned, placing his head down on the table. Jason shifted uncomfortably, giving him an awkward pat on the head.

"Khione kept asking me for the astrolabe."

Frank picked up his head. "The astrolabe? The stupid thing Leo's been carting around?"

Piper nodded. "She didn't believe me when I said I didn't have it."

"Leo has it," Rosie said. "I'm almost positive." That thing was attached to him 24/7.

"That's good, at least," Hazel said.

Nico sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "No, it's not. It means that stupid thing, whether it's on Leo's person or not, is something wanted-badly- by Gaea. And if Leo has landed somewhere...unfriendly..." Nico didn't bother finishing, staring the rest of them down with a gaunt look. He sighed. "Leo just had to go and be valiant, I guess…" He shot Rosie a look- she decided it wasn't worth it to comment.

"He'll be okay," Jason reassured them. "We know how attached Leo is to that thing...he'll protect it with his life."

"Jason's right," Hazel said. "We don't know why that thing is necessary, but...Leo knows it's important. He kept saying it would be used for something big."

"And the ship….we can fix it," Jason said. "We've got Festus now. And hopefully the southern venti. We can figure this out- just another bump in the road."

Jason met Rosie's eyes, and she knew his words went deeper when it came to her. They still hadn't discussed _that night_\- now that Leo was gone, she probably couldn't avoid it for much longer.

Jason broke eye contact away, and gave a small smile to the rest of the crew. "Well, no better time to start than now, right?"

* * *

Frank nervously wrung his hands together, bending down to avoid a metal pipe as he and Rosie made their way into the engine room. "You know, I can now see why I've never been in here."

"Aw, Zhang, you need a hand to hold?"

Rosie could hearly him sharply intake with annoyance. "_No_," he emphasized, as if Rosie's offer was actually serious. "I just- this place gives me the creeps, okay? It's like being inside Leo's mind...and that's, well..._terrifying_."

Rosie held in her laugh. "Well, you warm up to it. Just watch out for the rats."

Frank went pale. "_Rats_?"

Rosie continued on into the dark engine room, stepping over some pipes. "Now, he should be here…" she muttered.

"Uh, Rosie?" Frank stopped behind her, peering nervously into the darkness. "What exactly are we looking for?"

She paused, ready to mess with Zhang. "I haven't told you?"

"No, Jason assigned us as partners and you haven't given much information besides saying '_Hey Frank, let's go into the creepy engine room filled with rats!_'"

"You're being a lot of help," she said sarcastically, squinting into the dark. If only she had a flashlight- or a flame from Leo's hand.

"It's cramped back there. I am_ tall_-"

"Will you just help me already?" she snapped.

"Help with _what_?"

"We're looking for Buford."

Frank momentarily paused, the air fraught with confusion. Then, he gasped. "_Buford?!_" he exclaimed incredulously. "That evil thing?"

"Don't say that about him, he's going to help us fix the ship!"

"He stole my pants!"

"You should've packed more that one pair!" Rosie yelled back ferociously.

"Well, I didn't think my only pair would be _stolen_-"

Rosie paused, turning around to face Frank with a feigned, scared look. "Did you hear that?"

She could see the worried look on Frank's face as he tilted his head, listening among the clattering of metal pipes. "No...hear what?"

She shot him a grin. "Nevermind, just a rat."

"Rosie!"

She laughed. Messing with Frank, even if it was new-and-improved Frank, wasn't the same without Leo, but it did always make her laugh.

At that exact moment, Buford the End Table shot out, launching himself on Frank. Frank shrieked, falling backwards and managing to hit his head on one of the metal pipes snaking around the room.

"_Ow!_"

"Buford!" Rosie exclaimed happily, giving the end table a high-five.

"That hurt!" Frank whined from the floor.

"Aw, Frank, Buford was just saying hi."

Frank glared up at her. "I'm _fine, by the way_. I bruise like a peach, but I'm _fine_," he said grumpily.

She shrugged, lending him a hand. "Consider it my revenge for being the _second_ to find out about Coach's baby."

Frank widened his eyes at her, taking her hand and standing up as Buford scuttled around excitedly. "Wait, you know about that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes- you probably should've picked up on that when I stepped in to defend Coach the other night."

Frank's face lit up with recognition. "Oh, wow! Yeah, that flew right over my head."

"I'm aware."

Frank nodded awkwardly, stuffing his fists into his pockets. "So...pretty cool we're the only ones who know this, huh?"

"Uh..what?"

Frank blushed, awkwardly shuffling. "I mean, you and I don't really spend time together, and I just thought...nevermind, it's stupid-"

"Oh my god," she interrupted him with a laugh. "Frank, you want to be actual friends, don't you?"

"No!" Frank protested. "Just, forget it, okay?"

She held her hands up in surrender. "Fine," she said, suppressing a smile. "I was totally ready to start giving each other best friend nicknames, and-_ooh_\- maybe a handshake-"

"Sometimes my dad wants me to kill you!" Frank blurted out.

Rosie jerked back in surprise. "Uh, okay...that wasn't what I was expecting."

Frank reddened again. "Look, I hear my dad, sometimes, okay? But _both_ sides of him-Roman and Greek. And they're _constantly _fighting with each other, and sometimes they'll want me to kill people on this ship, like you or Leo-"

"So, you decided to befriend me before my untimely death?"

"No! God, Rosie. I just….hearing my dad say those things about you...just hearing him talk so much in general...I don't know, I guess it made me want to become better friends with you," he muttered reluctantly. "Like, I know what he's saying isn't true and I want to prove it. I mean, look at what you've done for Hazel. I have to be honest, you annoy me, so much that sometimes, I _do _want to kill you, but-"

"You heard from your dad." She said it as a statement, more so than a question. She couldn't keep the curiosity and some sadness out of her voice.

Frank shrugged. "I mean, it's not really great stuff-"

"I haven't heard my dad since I was six," she admitted, having trouble placing the emotion she was feeling. It couldn't possibly be sadness, could it? After all, her father was a monster.

_He left_, she reminded herself. _He killed Max._

Frank smiled sympathetically. "Gods make awful dads, don't they?"

Rosie smiled back in appreciation. "Remember the time we were the only ones who knew about Coach's kid?"

She could only imagine Leo's look of bewilderment at the two of them.

* * *

For a first time in a while, she was relaxed- which, clearly shouldn't have been the case considering she was watching Piper and Hazel sword fight. Turns out Rosie's pupil was a teacher of her own- she had been helping Piper learn how to swordfight. It was strangely calming to watch- the methodical movement, the clanging of the swords. Rosie also put on some music, Elton John's _Rocket Man _softly flowing through the air. She sat on the floor of the deck, knees hugged to her chest and the night sky glittering with stars. Above her, Festus roared protectively.

She glanced at Hazel, who was gracefully moving and dodging Piper's attacks. In a way, it felt like Hazel had gotten closer to both her and Piper. It was a nice feeling. Rosie flashed back to her Wilderness days, where none of the girls would talk to Rosie or Piper, instead shooting them mean looks and whispering around them.

"Good, Piper!" Hazel called out encouragingly. "You're getting better!"

"Am I?" Piper asked excitedly, pausing to wipe the sweat off her face. She turned to Rosie for reassurement.

"Totally intimidating, Pipes."

Piper flopped down next to Rosie with an exhausted grin. "Sweet."

Hazel giggled, joining them on the ground. She looked up at Festus. "I can't believe he was a fully functional dragon at one point."

Piper and Rosie exchanged smiles.

"He was beautiful," Piper said with a gush.

"He really was," Rosie said, almost missing the days on riding Festus' back with Piper, Jason, and Leo.

"I wish Leo could see him," Hazel said.

"He will," Piper said confidently. "And he will be _forever _in my debt."

Hazel and Rosie laughed, as Festus let out a fiery roar.

"She's right," Rosie said. "Leo will come home."

She stared up at the night sky, comforted by the fact that she and Leo were still looking at the same one.

_Come home, Leo. _


	18. Post-It Ponderings

**Hello hello! I want to start by first off apologizing for the unintended hiatus. With all the craziness that is going on in the world right now, I've been pretty stressed and was just focused on finishing my semester out online. I plan on updating regularly again. As I haven't posted in a while, not much happens in this chapter, it's more of a transition one as the next few have alot going on.**

**Cchang3- You-know-who on the island of you-know-where is basically going to go the same way it does in the books...kinda ;) stay tuned**

**Maryam Claus- yup! Leo is on Calypso's island at this point. Honestly, in the book, there's not much about the time between when he's blasted off the ship and when he comes back to the Argo, I plan on exploring that time in between a little. **

**Radoddish- lots of sassy Rosie and drama coming!**

**stay safe everyone!**

* * *

Rosie clutched the Post-it pad, sharpie in hand as Buford scuttled around her frantically. She winced in the harsh, direct sunlight. The days of winter coats and scarves woven tightly around necks were gone. Khione had blasted them somewhere hot- Jason's guess was Africa. The venti's palace, flanked by water on both sides, was enormous and daunting- it seemed to almost be teasing them. Despite being surrounded by water, the air seemed to be sucked clean of moisture, humidity hanging threateningly in the air.

Frankly, she didn't care _where _the hot location was. All she knew was something from all the way back to her Wilderness days- Rosie Reiger did _not _thrive in the heat. Her hair was piled messily on top of her head, baby strands of it plastered onto her forehead with sweat.

"Rosie!" A sharp bark caused her to turn around, only to see Nico standing there, scowling at her.

"What?"

"You said you were going to figure out the GPS controls," he said, his words dripping with annoyance as he gestured to the control board by her side.

"I _know_, Nico. I will, okay?" She wasn't in the mood for Nico today (was she ever?).

"Will you?" He shot back at her. "You said you could fix the ship."

She winced inwardly, regretting ever saying those words. She had watched Leo create the ship piece by piece, but she wasn't sure she could fix the enormity of damage the ship suffered. Even with Jason summoning the southern winds, trying to fix the _Argo II_ was an utter disaster right now. No one could deny it- none of them were even close to being as good at building as Leo was. Annabeth, maybe, she realized with a pang in her stomach.

"Rosie?" Nico said. "Are you even listening? What are you even doing anyway?"

Before she could react, Nico grabbed the post-it note pad from Rosie. She yelped in protest as Nico flipped through the pad, scowling as he read it.

"'_I just witnessed Frank put the milk before the cereal- I'm convinced he is not of our kind_'," he read, looking up at Rosie in confusion. "What the heck is this?"

"Can I have that back? It's not really your business."

"If this is what you're doing instead of fixing the ship, I'm going to need to know what it is."

Rosie sighed, aware that her patience for Nico was getting thinner by the day. Leo being gone had given her a significant edge.

"I had the chickenpox."

"Sorry?"

"Leo and I used to go to the same school. Back...before all of this. And for a while...he was my only friend- Piper didn't come to school until a few months later. And um...I had the chickenpox one week." The memory came back to the surface, and a smile slipped onto her face.

Nico raised his eyebrows in confusion. "You're smiling about having the chickenpox."

"I am. I think that's the most pain I've ever been in pre-demigod days.""

Nico scowled. "You're the single most annoying person I've ever met."

"Thanks. Anyway, I was completely locked up in my room for a week, absolutely miserable. Leo would write stuff down that happened on Post-it notes- he would slide them underneath my door. So I guess I wouldn't miss out."

"Well," Nico said, ripping off the Post-it note he read. He crumbled it up into a ball and threw it at Rosie, it bouncing off her forehead. "I'm so glad you're wasting time writing updates- maybe you can write one about how terrible you are at fixing the ship!"

"I never claimed to know what I was doing!" She shot back aggravated. "I said I would _try_ to help with the ship's damage! I have it under control."

At that exact moment, the boom of the ship swung towards them. Rosie and Nico simultaneously yelped, both ducking to avoid being hit by it.

"Under control, huh?" Nico sneered, jumping back up.

"How on earth was that my fault? Poor timing, _sure-_"

"Enough, you two!"

Piper had emerged on deck- she had been in the engine room with Coach, fiddling with some of the pipes.

"That's enough," she repeated. "Jason wants a meeting, _now_."

* * *

The six of them sat around the mess hall table, a feeling of failure in the air. Jason sat at the head, slumped into his chair.

"Still no word from the king?" Hazel asked.

It was obvious they needed help- fixing the ship was a big undertaking only Leo could do. Without him, they need the southern venti to help. While originally, these winds had been helpful, they now became lazy, refusing to help. Matters were made worse by the fact that Jason still couldn't get an audience with the king of the southern venti.

"No," Jason sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I can't get a word from either counterpart, Notus or Auster."

"We'll never fix the ship without him," Nico stated matter-of-factly.

"Festus and Buford are helping," Piper pointed out.

"But Reyna is going to be waiting for us at Epirus," Frank countered.

"We're _kinda_ also missing someone," Rosie pointed out.

Everyone winced inwardly at the indirect mention of Leo.

"Right," Jason said kindly, nodding at Rosie. "We also need Leo."

Nico stood up suddenly, walking toward the exit of the Mess Hall.

"The ship isn't going to fix itself," he muttered.

"He's stressed," Hazel said in an apologetic tone to the rest of them. "The closer Percy and Annabeth get to the Doors...well, he made a promise."

"It's okay," Jason said gently, once _again_ defending Nico. She held her tongue in annoyance. Jason stood. "I think I'll go talk to him. Pipes, can you check on Coach?"

"Sure," she offered helpfully, following Jason out of the room.

A heaviness hung in the air as Rosie was left with Frank and Hazel. She decided that was one of the worst Mess Hall meetings they had ever had.

After a few seconds of awkward, defeated silence, she peered over at Frank. "Have you ever tried changing into a dachshund?" It was a question that she had for a while- she knew never when the right time would be to bring it up.

Frank sighed, like he knew where this was going. "No, why?"

"If you became a wiener dog," she said. "You'd be like a frank further." Leo would've died at this- full belly laughter.

Hazel bit her lip, holding some laughter in. Frank sighed again, sounding quite defeated.

"Maybe one day," he said weakly. "Like a holiday."

"My birthday's June 10th."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Hazel tapped Rosie on the arm with a gentle smile on her face. "You look like you need to get your mind off things."

Weirdly, it felt like Frank and Hazel were the only ones she could talk to since Leo was gone. There was still all that unspoken tension between her and Jason, since they hadn't discussed _that night_ yet. Piper seemed to be avoiding her, like maybe she wasn't quite sure if she needed to walk on eggshells around Rosie or not. And of course, there was Nico, who hated her guts.

She gave Hazel a smile. "How'd you know?"

Hazel grinned. "I could use some Mist practice….you in?"

Rosie grabbed Hazel's hand in silence. She shot a grateful smile at the two of them, aware that there was a time she didn't even like them that much- thank god that had changed.

"I'm in."


	19. Sanctuary

**radoddish- WOOHOOOO!**

**AyeraeW- yes, I'm so pumped for the tv show! I gotta splurge and get Disney plus haha...it's going to be so great getting an hopefully accurate tv show! hopefully it reignites the fandom**

**SEASBLU- yay i'm so happy you liked it!**

**And thanks so much for the understanding comments guys! you're all the best**

* * *

"Yoda and Luke Skywalker. Gandalf and Frodo."

"Rosie."

"Mickey and Rocky Balboa."

Hazel shot her an amused smile. "Are you done?"

"Dumbledore and Harry Potter." She paused. "Okay, I'm done."

"Good."

Rosie hopped onto Hazel's desk. "Just listing the great rankings of mentors and mentees that we'll be joining, because you _clearly _don't need my help anymore." She paused. "Mentee- What a weird word. _Mentee_."

"I still need you," Hazel said in a panicked tone. "I mean- we're getting closer to the House of Hades, and I'm...I'm just not sure I'll be able to defeat whatever's in store for me."

Rosie nodded, understanding Hazel's anxiety. It was the same type of anxiety she felt when she drove herself crazy thinking about the different possible outcomes of the prophecy.

"Let's…" she hesitated. "Let's not think about that right now, okay? The whole getting into danger thing gets old after a while."

Hazel snorted. "You're telling me."

"So...instead, let's think of something happy." She gave Hazel a soft smile. "Show me a happy memory, Hazel."

Slowly, a smile appeared on Hazel's face. "You promise you won't tell anyone?" She blushed. "It's stupid, but I feel like the more people I tell...the less special it gets."

Rosie grinned. Deep down, she was thinking of the uncovered memory she possessed- her and Leo kissing on the roof of the Wilderness school. She understood where Hazel was coming from- even if she could tell people, she wasn't sure she would want to. She wanted to preserve its magic, keep it on a running loop in her mind when she couldn't sleep. "I won't tell a soul, Grasshopper."

Hazel beckoned for Rosie's hands. She complied, holding Hazel's hands. Hazel closed her eyes, her face creasing in focus and intensity.

Rosie could see the memory clearly. Hazel was getting better and better at the Mist everyday; Rosie knew in the depths of her heart that Hazel had surpassed her own abilities. It was like a television gaining clarity after a static-filled picture.

She could see a field, horses milling about on the grass. Her heart ached, missing Karey, the horse that had helped her in some of her darkest times. A cool breeze wrapped around her, causing the hairs on her arms to stand up.

Young Hazel appeared in front of them. She was young, maybe eleven or twelve. Young Hazel was fixated on her appearance. She paced the field, smoothing down the skirt of her dress and running her fingers through her hair nervously. Her eyes scanned the field, looking for someone.

"Hazel!"

Young Hazel's face lit up, and there was no doubt what was going on: she was in love.

A boy in the distance was waving at her wildly, running towards her.

As the boy came closer, his features became clearer, and Rosie felt herself gasp.

It was Leo.

It didn't make any sense to her- first off, this was Hazel's memory. It was way back in the 1940s.

But the boy had to be Leo, right? Those eyes, the hair, the wild gestures- that _was Leo._

Rosie felt herself hiccup, aware that Hazel- the real one- was standing next to her with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you ready to ride?" Leo called out.

Young Hazel's mouth dropped open. "What? Really?"

"Come on, Hazel!"

The two grabbed hands, and it was too much.

Rosie let go of Hazel's hand, jerking back into their world. She fell onto the hardwood floors with a thump.

That was Leo- it had to be. She had been _so close- _close enough to touch her.

"Rosie? I'm sorry, did I mess up?"

Hazel was kneeling on the ground next to her.

_Words, Rosie._

"I-uh-" she broke off with a shaky laugh. "I don't-was that-" She blinked hard and fast, willing the tears to _not come._

"That was Sammy," she said in a low tone. "Sammy Valdez."

"Wait, _what_?"

"Leo's great-grandfather," she explained. "I loved him." Rosie could hear the wistfulness in her voice.

So that explained things. It wasn't Leo, after all, it was his great-grandfather.

She was still having trouble catching her breath. The sight of Leo- Sammy, she had to remind herself- had shaken her to the core.

She missed him- she missed him so much.

"Rosie?" Hazel placed a hand on her shoulder. "Is everything alright?"

Rosie hopped up like every nerve in her body was set on fire.

"Rosie-"

"I-" she broke off with a tight smile. "I'm fine! I just have to...pee. Yeah- I have to pee."

She quickly ran out of her room, leaving Hazel in a cloud of confusion. She stumbled over her feet, waving her arms in order to balance herself.

She ended up in Jason's doorway- he looked up, startled as she collided into the doorway. He was on his bed, reading a hardcover of _A Tree Grows in Brooklyn- _Rosie had lent it to him, badgering him to read it.

He raised her eyebrows at her. "You okay?"

She bit her lip, deciding that one question was _loaded_. She couldn't quite string together the words- things hadn't been "okay" in a _long _time.

She let out a painful laugh, leaning on the doorway for support, afraid her knees would give out at any moment.

"Rosie? Are you okay?" Jason repeated in a concerned tone.

She shot him a tight smile, tears in her eyes. "I am just great. I am _great_, I am stellar-"

"Rosie-"

"You were right." She had finally admitted it out loud, all of her walls crumbling down.

"What do you-"

"You were right, okay?" She exclaimed.

"Oh." His face softened, finally understanding what she meant. "_Oh_."

The two of them stood there, and Rosie could feel herself unravel. She didn't _want _to be in love- she had no interest in it her entire life. She was fine being alone- she was good at it. But Leo had invaded, crept into every thought in her body, and he was there to stay.

Her eyes began to blur with tears, as her mind hopped through possibilities of what to do.

Jason opened his arms.

And she let herself go, sobbing into his arms.

* * *

"It's not the worst thing, Rosie."

She looked over at him, on top of the pillow she stole from him. "Really," she said flatly.

"Bad timing? Maybe, but-"

She rolled over onto the pillow with a groan.

"Are you going to tell him?" Jason asked.

Rosie hesitated, then curtly shook her head.

Jason frowned. "Rosie-"

"What am I supposed to tell him? That because we're best friends we're supposed to end up together? Just because we kissed in a memory he doesn't even remember?"

Truth was, up until this point, she was going to tell him. Her post-it notes had culminated in an embarrassing outburst of love.

_I promised him I would never speak of this to anyone, but Jason just forgot the name for a screwdriver. _

_Festus misses you- he seems to have forgotten that he used to want to burn me to a crisp. I'd like to think I'm his favorite now- Nico is totally afraid of him._

_How dare you go MIA without teaching me how to use a jigsaw._

_I miss you._

_The southern venti are unhelpful. I'm ready to whip out a kite and show them who's boss._

_Why do people say you can do anything you set your mind to? If that was true, the ship would be fixed._

_I think I'm in love with you._

_No, I know I am. And it's probably going to mess everything up._

_I love you. I love you. I love you._

"You and I both know it's more than that."

"Right," she said with a flat laugh, turning over and staring up at the ceiling.

"Grant and I used to play this game as kids."

There it was- the brief snippets of Jason's old life that he would dole out. Rosie softly smirked at him. "You're telling me that at some point, Jason Grace was a kid?"

He smirked back at her. "Hardly." He paused. "This game we would play...we used to sneak into New Rome and gather up a group of kids to play. It-" he broke off with a laugh. "It was pure madness, it had to be at least twenty or twenty-five of us. Imagine tons of little kids running through the streets."

"Terrifying."

"It was two teams- usually Grant and I wanted to be captains and go against one another. It...it was basically team tag. Just pure chaos, everyone chasing one another. Except...there'd always be one area- one area you couldn't be tagged in."

"And it didn't matter who's team you were on, Rosie," he continued. "As long as you were in that zone, you couldn't be touched. It was...safe. You know what we would call it?"

"What?"

"It was the sanctuary- a refuge from the craziness of the game." A small smile appeared on Jason. "A safe haven."

Sanctuary.

"I want a sanctuary," Rosie said softly.

She really did- she craved a place where she could be safe with her friends. A refuge.

"Yeah," He said. "Me too." Jason pauses thoughtfully. "That's the thing, though- a Sanctuary doesn't have to be a place. It could be a person."

A person- instantly, Leo flashed into her mind. After all, he was the one who made her laugh despite all of the world falling apart around them. He was her oldest friend, her right hand, her partner in crime. She couldn't ignore the aching in her heart when he wasn't here.

"I miss him," she said softly. "I...I'm scared not knowing where he is or if he's okay. You're right that Leo means a lot to me. I'm just not sure if it's worth it- what if I lose him?"

Jason paused, pondering her question. "There was always a risk getting to the Sanctuary- people chasing you, trying to get you out. But it was worth it to get to that safe place. It's always worth it, no matter the risk."

Rosie felt his words sink in.

"Geez," she muttered, under her breath, picking up the abandoned copy of _A Tree Goes in Brooklyn_ and smacking him on the head with it. "Your professor-like tendencies are getting out of hand."

Jason smiled, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Sorry for getting snot on your shirt," she apologized.

He shrugged. "Eh, I never liked this shirt."

* * *

The two of them dozed off a little later. It was anything but romantic- Rosie's foot somehow ended up pressed against Jason's cheek, and Jason was breathing _loudly._

_Get up_.

That voice sent a chill down Rosie's spine.

She jerked up, stifling a scream when she saw Jason do the same.

"Jason?"

He looked panicked. "Rosie? Did you hear-"

Rosie jumped out of the bed, not because she wanted to. Her feet moved independently. She wasn't controlling them.

Jason's body seemed to be doing the same, as he fell out of bed, knocking into his nightstand.

"What's going on?" She exclaimed, as her body moved towards the hall.

Jason tried grabbing onto the wall with no avail. "Some kind of-" He gritted through clenched teeth. "Spell?"

Rosie fell into the dark hallway, yelling out as her body collided with the wall.

"Rosie-" Jason called from behind her. "Look."

She glanced down at the hallway, only to see Nico struggling like they were, holding onto his door handle.

"Nico!" Jason yelled, arms pinwheeling as his body propelled past Rosie.

"What is _going on_?!" Nico couldn't hide the anger in his voice.

Rosie's feet moved her up the stairs, Jason and Nico climbing up behind her onto deck.

"Guys?"

The three of them suddenly stopped, taking in the sight before them.

Coach, Piper, Hazel, and Frank knelt before them, their eyes open but unmoving, their lips slack, their faces blank.

"What- what's wrong with them?" Jason whispered.

Before she could answer, the four of them opened their mouths, as they spoke in tandem- a creepy, ominous voice.

"_The time has come_."


	20. The Palace of Whispers

**radoddish- I like the way you're thinking...somewhat ;) stay tuned**

**SwedishMerlinFan- aw that's so sweet thank you! I'm glad you enjoy Rosie so much, that means alot**

**AyeraeW- Thank you, that means the world! I like making Rosie have strong relationships with everyone in the story.**

* * *

Their friends stared back at them, hands clasped behind their backs as they knelt on the floor of the ship.

"_The time has come," _they repeated in tandem.

"_Jason Grace_," Piper spoke.

"_Nico DiAngelo," _Hazel said.

"_Rosie Reiger," _It was Coach speaking now.

"_The three of you, and only the three of you, shall report to Auster's palace immediately,_" Frank spoke ominously.

"_It is time,"_ the four of them spoke in tandem again.

As soon as the words were out of their mouth, the four of them fell forward simultaneously, hitting the ground with one solid thud.

Jason rushed forward to Piper, as Nico and Rosie kept their distance behind him.

Frank sat up with a groggy moan, rubbing his forehead. "What...what happened?" He looked in confusion at the group that had assembled.

Coach winced, holding his head. "Pan Pipes, this migraine! I don't usually get migraines like this unless I have, like, _fifteen _espressos…"

"Jason?" Piper asked, confused.

Jason glanced back at Rosie and Nico. "That couldn't have been from Auster," he muttered to them.

"What couldn't have been from Auster?" Hazel asked.

As Jason explained what happened, Rosie couldn't help but feel a wave of dread. Jason was right; that message had to be a trap. Jason hadn't heard from the king of the southern venti yet. Also, why would Rosie and Nico need to be involved in that?

"It has to be those kids," Nico said, as if he could read her thoughts.

"What, those Mother Earth children?" Piper asked with raised eyebrows.

Jason sighed. "I think you're right, Nico." He helped Piper up, as Nico and Rosie followed his lead to help the others. "I think they're trying to lure us into something."

"But why?" Frank asked. "It's not like we have the astrolabe- Leo has that."

"My guess?" Jason said. "They're trying to throw as many obstacles as they can before we reach the House of Hades- they know we're getting there. But the question is…" He looked over at Rosie and Nico. "Do we go?"

"I'm totally not making that decision again," Rosie said, reminded of Nico's outburst at her the last time they went into something that was essentially a trap.

Nico paused, a thoughtful look on his face. His face hardened. "I'm ready- I'll be waiting for you two by the ladder." With that, he parted from the group, stalking off into the darkness.

"Note- never wake up Nico when he's sleeping," Coach murmured.

Jason sighed. "Let's just say...Nico wants his time with us to be over as soon as possible."

Funny-Rosie felt the same way when it came to Nico.

Hazel frowned, glancing at Jason and Rosie with a worried look. "Are you sure you guys want to go into a trap? Again?"

"I have a feeling that might be the only way I get to meet with the king," Jason groaned. "Maybe they've gotten to him- I don't know." He looked at Rosie. "Be ready in five?"

Rosie nodded, despite absolutely _not _wanting to see any of these kids again- or worse, having another Gaea encounter.

Before the three of them embarked, Piper tapped Rosie on the shoulder, pulling her off to the side.

"Can we talk for a sec?" she requested in a low voice.

"What's up?" Rosie asked, worried by her friend's tone. She didn't sound like Piper did normally; something was off.

Piper reddened. "This is a little weird but…" She trailed off with a sigh. "I know you've been stressed lately, and not really the same...but, uh-"

"What is it?"

Piper took a deep breath before continuing, as if she were mustering the courage to say something. "It's just...Hazel told me you ran off to Jason's room last night. And...she didn't say anything about you coming out."

Rosie felt like throwing up. "_Ew_, what, you think something happened?" The ridiculousness of it almost made Rosie want to laugh out loud.

"No!" Piper said quickly, a deep flush in her cheeks. "I just...I don't want to be caught off guard- never again." It was then that Rosie realized how much Piper had been affected by her encounter with Khione. She seemed so riddled with panic and fear. "I need to know that you haven't told Jason about Calla."

"What?"

"Come on, Rosie, I know Jason's always been the one you talk to about stuff." _Not always_\- the image of the restaurant flashed darkly in her mind, something only Piper knew the extent of. "More than me or even Leo. I just feel like you're avoiding us, and maybe…" she sighed. "Sharing stuff we promised not to talk about."

"God, Piper, _no. _I haven't told him anything Grant said about Calla..or anything like that." She scoffed. "Am I allowed to go to him when I need help?"

"Of course!"

"We agreed to not tell him about Calla, why would I go back on that?" Rosie snapped. It was her idea after all to not tell him- why would she lie about that?

"I didn't say you would!" Piper said quickly, her eyes widening. "Rosie, I just- you're so different now. I don't know what you're thinking anymore! I know you were traumatized by Percy and Annabeth but-"

"Stay out of my business Piper."

With those piercing words, Rosie walked away, blinking quickly to prevent any tears from coming.

"Ready?" Jason asked as she walked over to him and Nico.

She smiled tightly at him. "Let's do it."

* * *

The three of them, after being flown down by Jason, approached the palace with caution, aware that they might be walking into a trap. The wind palace towered above them, glistening even in the pitch dark. Rosie wished Leo was with them, illuminating the way for them. The closer they got, the breezier it got- chills of the night seemed to be immersing them into the world of the Southern Venti.

Jason appeared to be on high alert, his eyes scanning the surrounding areas. Nico shuffled besides her, sulking like a predator on its way to devour its prey.

"How are we supposed to get in?" She asked, frowning at the gate.

Nico stopped suddenly, a surprised look on his face. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Rosie asked, not hearing anything over the shrill sound of the wind.

"Hearing would require silence, Rosie," Nico said harshly.

Jason sighed, probably feeling like he was babysitting the two of them. "Nico, come on-"

"Just listen."

The two of them shut up, straining to hear what Nico was talking about. Just when she was about to complain about not hearing anything, she heard them.

_Whispers._

Human voices speaking softly in the air, as if being carried by the wind. She couldn't make out what they were saying: all of the voices were jumbled. She only seemed to catch bits and pieces of sentences.

_Demigods_

_Son of Death_

_The Eight_

Jason frowned. "That's..weird. I wonder why-"

_Jason Grace. _

"Oh shit, they know you," Rosie said to Jason, shivering as she wrapped her arms closer to her body.

"Um...hi?" Jason said to the night sky, an unsure look on his face. "That's...me."

"You don't sound too confident, dude." Rosie observed with a shaky laugh.

"Well-"

_The king is very pleased you came. He'll see you now._

The gate of the palace swung open, a breeze rushing towards them.

Nico frowned. "That was unusually easy."

"Trap," Rosie reminded them. "Remember, it's a trap." She glanced at Jason. "Right, Jason?"

Jason hesitated. "Maybe...maybe not? Maybe the king just wanted to do this on his own terms." He glanced at the palace. "I'll go in- you two stay out here for back-up."

"Jason!" Rosie said, horrified that the plan to be cautious and _stick together_ had just been thrown out the window.

Jason sighed, throwing his hands up in surrender. "We want to keep moving, don't we?"

"Of course," Nico cut in. "We're close to Percy."

"And Annabeth," Jason replied sharply, shooting Nico an unreadable look.

"We don't know if it's safe in there," she pointed out.

"I can control the wind, Rosie- it has to be me. You two can cover me from here." He paused. "You want Leo back, don't you?"

She glanced at the ground, hoping neither of them could see her blush in the dark. "Yeah," she muttered. "Whatever- just be careful."

"I promise I will be."

Rosie watched as he disappeared into the palace, the gates closing behind him. She sighed, knowing she was now stuck with her least favorite person.

Nico seemed to have no interest in interacting with her. He plopped down on the ground, hands clasped as he focused his eyes on the palace. She followed suit, sitting away from him, facing the ship. She hated how far away it was- with the ballista still damaged, there's no way they could help them on the ground. Not to mention, it'd be useless if they couldn't use Jason's flying powers to quickly get help.

"You know," she finally spoke after a few minutes of agonizing silence. "You don't have to automatically oppose me on every issue."

"I can't help it if you're wrong most of the time," Nico shot back darkly.

"_God,_" Rosie managed to get out, completely annoyed. "I get it, Nico- I'm not Percy. I know you would've gladly pushed me into Tartarus in place of him but...I'm here. Get over it."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Rosie, I never said-"

"Jokes on you, actually, because I would've taken his place." She felt oddly defensive, perhaps the wind giving her more courage than was appropriate.

"Poor Rosie Reiger, everyone. The little martyr who's _been through so much_."

Rosie turned to him with a cold look. "Hey-"

"Let's just say I've had enough of the situations you've gotten us into."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she barked.

"Forget it," he replied.

"No, really, tell me."

"Rosie, shut up for a second."

"_Please_, Nico, I'm dying to know," she said sarcastically.

Nico sat up quickly, his eyes wide with fear. "Shut up!" he gasped. "The whispers...they're gone."

She paused, realizing the air had gone deathly still. "That's...what does that mean?" she whispered, afraid to move.

"I don't know."

"Nico-"

_Now, now, children- is that any way to get along?_

Nico and Rosie stood, back to back, aware of the single voice that had been haunting them the entirety of this trip- Gaea.

The ground beneath them split open, and Rosie gasped as a skeletal hand shot out, grasping her ankle. Nico jumped back, eyes huge in alarm.

"Spartoi!" he cried, as more skeletons began slowly clambering out of the ground, out of the darkness. Rosie kicked the one attached to her ankle, backing up to join Nico.

"We have to get back to the ship!" Nico yelled.

"Not without Jason!" Rosie exclaimed, whipping her dagger out. "Use Diocletian's scepter!"

Nico scowled. "I left it on the ship."

"_What?!"_

"For safekeeping," he gritted out.

"How's that working out now?" She yelled angrily, as droves of spartoi were rising out of the ground, approaching them.

The two of them split, fighting off the skeleton warriors as best as they could with the dim lighting they had. Rosie finally saw the Son of Hades at work- despite not having the scepter (and it being clear the spartoi were under Gaea's rule) , he was making the spartoi dissolve into dust with a simple snap of his fingers. A whole other layer of why she was terrified of him was revealed- he was _extremely _powerful.

Rosie tried her best to ward off the warriors, but it was hard to do without her powers being their maximum strength. She summoned all the strength she had, unable to make a spring or any kind of water source appear. She had to rely on hand-to-hand combat, slashing away at warriors, bones littering the ground.

_It's laughable how weak you are._

She ignored Gaea's voice in her head, pushing through, slashing away angrily.

Her vision blurred, and her head began throbbing. She winced, her dagger falling out of her hand.

_You think you've gotten good at Mist control?_

With a scream, Rosie fell to her knees.

"Rosie?" Nico yelled over the sounds of battle.

She couldn't see Nico anymore. The scene in front of her was dissolving, a different image coming up.

_Six-year-old Rosie smiled, her front tooth missing. Rosie couldn't believe she was ever that young, that carefree- messy brown curls and a love for footie pajamas._

Oh god- Gaea was in her head, flipping through her memories. She strained her eyes, seeing a fading Nico's eyes grow wide, as she realized he could see _everything._

_Her smile didn't dip until she saw her Mom. She realized her mom was crying, her face red and splotchy._

"_Mom?"_

"_He's gone, Rosie. He's never coming back."_

_She realized she was talking about her dad- her absolute best friend at that point. She remembered how disappointed she was. How she waited for him for so long, naively believing he would return._

_The scene changed, and suddenly Rosie was hearing Max's screams as he drowned, the sound of water rushing in her ears. She could feel Max's pain as if it were her own._

"Nico!" She screamed, no clue if he could even hear her- just trying _so hard _to break out of her memories.

_The entire restaurant shook, dust raining down as customers screamed in terror. She ran, ran so fast from the pain and destruction she had caused._

"Rosie! Snap out of it!"

Nico appeared for a second, only to be replaced by the drakon that was there the night she made the restaurant collapse.

_She couldn't stop- her entire life flashed before her eyes: Mom and Buzz, Max, being alone and on the run, Hera, Wilderness, Piper, their quests. Leo- so much Leo. The happy glimpses would only last for a second, quickly being replaced by something terrible that Rosie did- she was a monster._

Someone grabbed her hand.

And suddenly she wasn't seeing her own memories.

She saw a beautiful Italian woman, smiling down at her. Her eyes- those were Nico's eyes. She could see young Nico being tugged along by an older sister. Rosie searched for her name….Bianca.

The scene shifted, a hotel lit on flames, Zeus looming over it. Rosie's stomach dropped, seeing Bianca and Nico flee, both of them crying. Had Zeus tried to kill them, like how he ordered her Dad to kill Max?

A bright colorful casino flashed by before being replaced by Percy. Rosie struggled, not knowing if this were her own memory or Nico's. Percy's lips were forming words- what were they? Bianca...something about Bianca.

Bianca's dead.

Rosie could feel Nico's grief, mixing with her own feelings of sadness and grief over Max. The pain was too much- whatever Gaea was doing, it was working. She felt her strength, whatever little she had left, depleting.

Somewhere, Nico wailed, the memory of Percy disappearing. The hazy image of the wind palace reappeared, as Rosie realized he had let go of her hand. The skeleton warriors persisted, continuing to come out of the earth. They were _everywhere, _ready to drag them into god-knows-where.

They were outnumbered- and weak. Rosie could hear Nico groaning in pain besides her, as she was made aware of the bruises and cuts on her body, as warriors continued to climb all over her.

Was this Gaea's plan, then? Just finish them off once and for all right now?

She lamely attempted to conjure _something _one more time, to no avail. Nico's groans of pain were getting louder.

How cruel that their friends in the ship weren't even aware they were dying.

And then, off in the distance, she heard it.

The sound of a horse's neigh.


	21. Forgiveness

**radoddish- you know it!**

**Cchang3- not to worry, that gets resolved in this chapter. I appreciate you asking about it, as I know that arc probably wasn't the easiest to get through.**

**SEASBLU- haha thank you so much! bad words are very useful and descriptive lol**

**AyeraeW- yup, time for some bonding!**

* * *

"Karey," She croaked out, as her limbs were being tugged at. It didn't matter that Nico was on the verge of losing consciousness and couldn't hear her- Karey was coming. She knew it in her heart.

"Nico," she struggled to get the words out. "Help is coming."

The sounds of hooves galloping were coming closer. Emerging out of the darkness was Karey, the horse that had been there for Rosie when she needed help the most. He had helped her, Jason, Leo, Coach, and Piper on Mount Diablo. She had never been so happy to see Karey, the horse with the dark eyes and black-and-white coat.

_Rosie!_

Karey was right next to them, lifting up his hind legs and crushing the warriors, bones flying everywhere.

_Get on!_ Karey's urgent, commanding tone had given her the last bit of strength she was searching for.

Rosie grabbed Nico, finally free from the warriors, mustering all the strength she had.

Nico's eyes opened, focusing on her.

"Please," she muttered to him. "Please get up, Nico."

Nico's eyes focused on Karey, widening. Finally, he seemed to understand. The two of them clung to one another for support, wavering unsteadily as they rose.

Karey was strong in his movements, stomping warriors to pieces, neighing fiercely. Rosie felt a surge of love for the horse as Karey knelt, allowing for them to mount.

She didn't understand- warriors were still coming out of the earth, hoards of them. Karey began to gallop away from the groups, the two of them clutching on for dear life.

The warriors cried out loudly- they had no problem showing how upset they were.

The ground below exploded, dirt covering the three of them. Bony hands reached up from the ground, snaking around Karey's legs.

_Ahhh!_

Karey fell, Rosie and Nico tumbling off him. Rosie grunted as her body hit the ground, aware of being sprayed with something. She looked down at her clothes, which were now covered in blood.

She snapped her head up, realizing in horror that Karey had been stabbed. He laid on the ground, bleeding.

"No!" She cried, leaping in forward.

_Rosie….I'm sorry._

Karey's fur was matted with blood, the wound deep. He was shaking uncontrollably.

Rosie knelt by his side. She wasn't sure how, but somehow Nico had regained enough strength to fight off more of the warriors.

She touched Karey's fur, crying. "You're okay," she said, hoping this would bring it into existence. "You're okay."

_Leave, Rosie- get out of here._

"I'm not going anywhere," she whispered, somehow feeling like she was thirteen again.

As she touched another hand to Karey, she was again transported into memories. She saw her father, giving Karey a pat.

"_My daughter's out there. She's thirteen and all alone. I'm trusting you to help her."_

It didn't stop there- Rosie could suddenly see all of her father's actions, all in instances where she was unaware of his presence. Manipulating her mother into screaming at Rosie, leading to her running away after Max's death. Using the Mist to carefully conceal the places she hid when she was on the run. Cracking the glass done she was trapped in with Frank and Percy back at Atlanta. Sending Karey into the middle of this bloodshed. She could now feel his watchful gaze, seeing her every movement.

This didn't touch her or make her all warm and fuzzy inside. It _angered _her, as she was suddenly aware of how much he had seen and intervened. He had been carefully crafting movements in her life, and yet, did no such thing for Max or Percy. And now, Karey was lying under her- dead. Simply a puppet in her father's puppeteer world.

Nico quickly rushed to her side, the cries of warriors in the distance, but approaching.

He grabbed her shoulder, shaking her. "Rosie, please, let's get out of here. I'm sorry but he's gone."

"No."

"What?"

"He can't do this to me."

"What? Who are you talking about?"

"He can't do this to me again!"

"Rosie-"

She stood up, shaking with anger, fists clenched at her side. She could see her father's face in her mind.

"I know you can hear me." She didn't recognize the voice coming out of her mouth. Her voice was coated in a low, dangerous anger. "I know...I know you're out there- _watching me_."

"Rosie, please..." Nico softly begged. His hands went up to his eyes, as if he didn't want to look at her.

"_YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME_!" The guttural, hysterical scream came out of her mouth- she didn't recognize the sound of her own voice. "You have taken everything- _EVERYTHING-_ from me." Her voice broke on the last word.

Rosie flung herself down to her knees, letting out a wail of pure anguish. Something in her broke, and the ground began to rumble.

She heard Nico yelp as the world began to shake, the cries of warriors falling into the earth. She felt everything drain out of her as the earth shook violence, the ground swallowing the soldiers whole.

The rumbling was back, and she knew with no doubt, as her vision started to go, that it was the strongest she had ever conjured.

* * *

It was dawn, and she hadn't spoken. Nico was sitting behind her, no doubt waiting.

Rosie was curled up in a ball, feeling absolutely exhausted...but _smiling_. Springs had erupted by her feet.

Her powers were back. Finally, she had _felt _something- the numbness inside of her had worn away. The anger towards her father and in losing Karey had awoken something inside of her.

Tears came too, as she softly brushed them away, replaying the memories displayed by Gaea in her head.

"Pretty ugly, huh?" She finally spoke.

"Me or you?" He replied.

Rosie smirked at him. "Touché," she decided. She sat up, facing Nico- who looked just as bad as she probably did.

Her eyes fell onto Karey's still body, and sighed. Nico followed her gaze.

"I'm sorry about your horse," he said, frowning. "They don't usually like me- horses, I mean. But...that was a kind horse."

"Yeah," she said, nodding, finally looking away from him- it was too painful. "He was." She hesitated, wanting to ask Nico about Bianca. However, was she even entitled to? It's not like either of them asked for their memories to be displayed- they had been violated.

"Did Zeus kill your mom?" she blurted out. Way to be tactful, Rosie.

"He tried to kill my entire family," Nico said flatly, adjusting his skull ring. "My father just happened to save me and my sister."

Rosie found it ironic that the Hades, the "God of Death", seemed to be the most merciful of the Big Three: he had not only saved Nico and Bianca, but had spared Hazel.

"Do you ever wonder about their train of thought?" she asked. "I mean, I can relate to the whole Zeus-trying-to-kill-everyone. But do you ever wonder why we've made it this far?"

Nico didn't say anything, making Rosie even more nervous.

"I mean," she continued to blabber on, a steady stream of nerves flowing from her. "My dad- Poseidon- he's been there, even though I've felt so disconnected from him my entire life. He's just been watching silently….almost...protecting me. But I look at Max-" She felt her cheeks flush. "My brother...who, um- well, you saw that. I look at him, how he was tossed away, and I look at Percy, who's now in Tartarus-" Her voice cracked on the last one, and she drew her knees up to her chest. "And I've done things, bad things, and I don't if I deserve to be here in their places."

"I don't think the restaurant is that big of a deal," Nico muttered.

"What?" Rosie snapped. "How could you say that? People died-"

"And you don't think I get death? Or being ashamed of a part of myself?" Nico asked, shaking his head. "What happened at the restaurant...your aura _should_ be nothing but the presence of death."

"Gee, thanks."

"Let me finish, Rosie. Despite everything...that was shown," he started, shifting uncomfortably. "I don't sense any of that coming from you. There's nothing but life coming from you."

She didn't say anything- words had left, just like her strength.

"When my sister died…" Nico trailed off, clearing her throat. "When Bianca died, I was angry at Percy- _unbelievably _angry. It was misdirected, sure, but I hated him for it. It wasn't just something in the back of my head- it was _consuming_. My hatred fueled me."

She understood this- god knows she misdirected anger at Percy for being alive instead of her brother, even if it hadn't made sense. When something unexplainable happens, sometimes the only way you can cope with it is shifting the blame on someone.

"I tend to hold a grudge," Nico said.

Rosie snorted. "Are you me?" she whispered in a soft, joking tone.

Surprisingly, the song of Hades cracked a small smile at her. "Explains why I want to strangle you half of the time." Nico paused, his face deep in thought. "I had to forgive Percy...it was a hard thing to do. I had to swallow some pride, in a sense."

Her father's face appeared in her mind. "I'm not sure if I can do that yet," she admitted, thinking of her own trials.

Forgiveness wasn't a one-time deal- she knew that. It was an ongoing process- letting go seemed out of her grasp.

"That's not even the hardest part. You know what the hardest part was? Forgiving myself."

Rosie felt herself exhale. His words weren't just referring to Max- Percy and Annabeth appeared in her mind. Suddenly, she knew she wasn't the only one experiencing the guilt. The agony of letting them fall- not just their friends, but their siblings, pawns caught in the crossfire of the gods' bidding. Forgiving themselves for being the ones to survive to this day.

"Are you saying we hold grudges against ourselves?" She asked with a smirk.

Nico's eyes glinted. "Something like that," he agreed.

"Are you still holding one?"

Nico nodded. "All the time. The way I see it...we didn't ask for this life. God, who would? But we're doing the best we can with it….we shouldn't allow them to make us feel guilty for surviving. We've all had our restaurant moments...it's just the way we were born- I'm still trying to be okay with that."

The whispers had returned, dancing in the air. Rosie smiled, comforted by the sound. The whispers comforted them, told them things- Jason was safe, and in the process of getting them help.

"I think this is the most I've heard you speak," Rosie laughed.

Nico nodded, a slight smirk on his face. "Shame it took a bunch of spartoi for that to happen. Should we try to go inside and help Jason?"

Morning was coming. Rosie couldn't peel her eyes away from it.

"Do you think we can just sit here for a while?" she asked. "I...I can't remember the last time I watched sunrise." It was one of those she took for granted, assuming it would always be there. Come August, however, she wasn't sure how true that would be.

Nico gulped, his face softening. "Yeah, Rosie. I'd like that."


	22. Shaky Ground

**Madds-Chikistorm- thank you so much! I had so much fun finally writing some bonding between them**

**SEASBLU- i love haikus! and yes, nico do be gay tho...I love him and Will together**

**MaryamClaus- i totally agree! externally, they're pretty different but internally they have alot of the same struggles and pain. as far as poseidon, his perspective will be a little clearer in Boo hopefully :) i hope you are doing good as well!**

**AyeraeW- i agree! healthy relationships, whether platonic or romantic, are essential in life. i've always had such a soft spot for Nico tbh**

**and quick call for help from you all- as i am rereading BoO and preparing for the next installment, i am reminded by how...underwhelmed I am by BoO. it's the weakest book in the series, imo. I have come up with some cool plotlines, (and a way to kind of include the whole nico-reyna-coach thing) but I still feel like it's going to be a challenge writing it. So i want to know- what are your thoughts on BoO? What did you like you about it!? What didn't you like? Let me know in the comments, I'd really appreciate it- I feel like I'm going to have to rework the plot slightly, but I like doing that :D thanks everyone!**

* * *

"I told you, a black eye makes me look edgy," Rosie stuck her tongue out at herself in the bathroom mirror.

"You do tend to get them often," Hazel observed with a giggle.

Jason was currently on deck, directing a pack of horses with wind ropes. The crew, Jason included, had been shocked to see Rosie and Nico, and the extent of their injuries. No one quite knew what happened- Rosie and Nico had decided to keep that to themselves. Telling the crew about Karey was enough- she would've broken down into tears if Nico hadn't stepped in.

"Are you sure you don't want ice for that?" Piper asked in a worried tone. "Or maybe some more ambrosia?" Piper and Rosie's fight had been forgotten about- Rosie wasn't mad at her, anyways. For crying out loud, it was Piper- her best friend.

Rosie shrugged. "I'm good," she said. "It doesn't hurt that much."

Her mind had been a little clearer since leaving the wind palace. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders- she rested easy now, knowing her powers had returned. The next step, she decided, would be granting herself slack for using them- maybe even being _proud _of what she could do. She wasn't hopeful about returning to a normal life- as much as she wanted it, it was still out of reach- but maybe she could do her best in the quest with what she was going. She was trying to accept her life's purpose- whatever that may be.

And there was the other thing- they were headed Leo's way. Jason was directing the horses towards Malta, where Leo was currently. She couldn't contain her excitement.

A knock came at the door. "Guys?" Frank asked cautiously. "Can I...um, come in?"

"We're having lady talk, Frank," Rosie said, knowing this would make Frank squirm.

Frank went silent, as Piper and Hazel giggled besides her.

"Um…"

"Periods and such."

Hazel and Piper exchanged amused looks, covering their mouths to keep the laughter in.

"Oh, god. All I wanted was to tell you guys is that we're here."

Rosie opened the door immediately. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yup."

Rosie turned back to face Hazel and Piper. "Let's go get our idiot back."

* * *

They found Leo at the top of city fortifications, sitting at an open-air cafe. As the group excitedly approached him, Rosie hung back, shocked by the sight: not only was Leo drinking a cup of _coffee, _he was wearing the same outfit he was the first time they ever went to Camp Half-Blood. This included jeans, a white t-shirt, and that old army jacket Leo used to wear all the time. That part didn't make any sense, for that jacket _burned _months ago.

She hung at the back of the group as everyone greeted Leo, suddenly feeling uncharacteristically shy.

Piper was the first one to reach him, nearly knocking Leo off his feet with the force of her hug. "Leo! Good god, where have you been?"

Leo winced in pain, giving her a small smile and a squeeze of her shoulder. "Geez, Pipes, a little harder, I don't think you've completely broken my ribs yet…"

"Valdez!" Coach Hedge grinned. It quickly disappeared- he probably remembered he had a tough guy front to keep up. "You disappear like that again, little punk, and I'll knock you into space! I mean it!"

Leo's eyes finally landed on her, and she was suddenly struck by how...sad he looked. She expected whooping from Leo, cheering as they approached him. She knew her best friend, and something was off.

Leo must've sensed this in her, because his face soon lit up, a tight smile on his face.

"You look like shit," he announced in a false cheery tone, taking in the sight of her, bruises and cuts and all.

She smiled back at him. Whatever had happened, it couldn't have been too bad if he was still teasing her.

"You should see the other guy," she said with a wry smirk. She gave him a light, playful tap on his shoulder, too afraid to hug him. He seemed so frail.

As they grabbed chairs to join Leo at his table, Rosie heard a low whisper from Jason.

"Dude," he said to Leo softly. "Are you alright?"

"What?" Leo replied loudly with a nervous laugh. "I'm fine! I was marooned, that's all...what about you guys? What happened with Khione?" He kicked Rosie under the table. "By the way, remind me to never save your life again."

It was obviously a joke, but the tone of it...felt wrong. What had happened to Leo? She frowned, and noticed Leo quickly looking away from her.

Coach Hedge launched into the story of how Piper defeated Khione, albeit with a few more embellished details. This all became white noise to Rosie, because she couldn't stop looking at Leo, the concern probably evident on her face. He was so..._still_, so subdued. He looked years older, somehow. It was almost as disturbing as the cup of coffee he was drinking- Leo and coffee _did not _go together.

"Coach!" Piper exclaimed, snapping Rosie back to reality. "That's not what happened- I couldn't have done anything without Festus."

"Festus?" Leo asked with raised eyebrows. "But he's deactivated."

"Right, about that...I sort of woke him up."

Leo tapped his fingers on the table, a sight that comforted Rosie immensely. He was fine, she reminded herself- he had to be fine.

"Shouldn't be possible," Leo murmured. "Unless the upgrades let him respond to voice commands. But if he's permanently activated, that means the astrolabe and crystal…"

"Crystal?" Jason asked, confused.

"Er, nothing. Tell me, what happened after the wind bomb went off?"

Hazel launched into the story, as their group settled in, eating sandwiches and drinking sodas. Rosie hardly touched her food, aware that the entire group's mood seemed to be off. Without Leo's spastic humor, the group seemed...subdued.

"Rosie?"

"Huh?" She snapped back into focus, aware that everyone was staring at her. "What?"

"I was just up to the part where you and Nico were attacked…" Hazel said, unsure of how to continue.

"Oh. Right. Karey died."

Leo didn't lift his eyes from the grilled cheese in front of him. "I'm sorry, Freckles."

As they finished telling their story, Frank observed a tourist brochure on the table.

"Huh," he said, an interested look on his face. "It says here Malta was where Calypso lived."

Leo's face went red. "Say what now?"

"According to this, her original home was an island called Gozo...just north of here. Calypso's a Greek myth, isn't she?"

Coach Hedge slammed his hands down on the table. "Ooh I bet we fight her! Can we fight her? Because I'm ready."

"No," Leo said softly. "No, Coach, we don't have to fight her."

Piper frowned at Leo. "Leo, what's up? You look kind of-"

"Me? Nothing!" He quickly shot to his feet. "We have to get going, don't we? There's work to be done! People to see!"

"But...where were you?" Hazel asked in a motherly tone. "And...how did you even get those clothes? What-"

"Geez!" Leo interrupted in a panicked tone. "I appreciate the concern, ladies, but Leo Valdez doesn't need two moms!"

Piper smiled hesitantly. "Alright, but-"

"Ships to fix! Festus to check! Earth goddess to destroy, chop, chop, chop, people!" Leo exclaimed, clapping his hand together. "What are we waiting for? Leo's back, baby!" He grinned wildly at them.

Rosie saw right through his crap: he was anything but okay. Something had happened to him.

Jason got up, clapping Leo on the shoulder. Rosie saw a brief flash of concern on his face before he smiled.

"Leo's right, guys. Let's get going."

As they began to clean up their area, Hazel suddenly gasped. "Guys!"

She pointed to the northeast horizon. Rosie couldn't see anything, except the sea. She wasn't the only one who was having trouble: she noticed some confusion on Piper and Frank's faces. Leo wasn't paying attention; he was observing his fingernails, looking to be lost in thought.

"I don't see anything," Coach grumbled.

Piper nodded. "Yeah, me either."

Nico, Hazel, and Jason seemed to be the only ones who saw something in the distance.

"That can't be…" Nico muttered with an anxious look on his face. "Greece is still hundreds of miles away."

"You think it's Epirus?" Jason asked him.

Nico nodded. "Looks like the House of Hades is open for business."

"It's begun," Hazel said in a strangled tone, her mouth wide open in shock.

"Um...what exactly?" Rosie asked nervously.

"Gaea's final push," Hazel said darkly. "The Doors of Death are working overtime. Her forces are entering our world rapidly."

""We'll never make it," Nico moaned miserably. "There'll be too many monsters to fight by the time we get there."

"We'll get there," Jason said in a fierce, reassuring tone. "We'll make it there fast- we've got Leo back, after all." He clapped Leo on the shoulder, as Leo quickly looked up from his hands.

After a second, Leo smiled. "Time to fly, boys and girls. Uncle Leo's still got a few tricks up his sleeve!"

Even as he glanced her way with a shaky smile, she couldn't shake the feeling that something had happened to Leo. And maybe, just maybe, it had to do with Calypso.


	23. Into the Unknown

**AyeraeW- i agree, there were definitely pacing issues that made BoO anticlimatic! as far as Caleo, it's weird bc I like Leo and I like Calypso as individuals, but definitely not together- I really wish he could've focused on Leo's independence more.**

**Radoddish- boys smh**

**SEASBLU- wait i'm dying blocking calypso from memory is such a mood hahaha**

**if you are troubled by the events occurring in America like I am, I urge you to do some research. Educate yourself. Be an active ally in the movement. If you're looking for some literature, I recommend How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.**

* * *

Oddly, watching Frank shoot vicious harpies as they entered Greece was therapeutic. Greece was unbearably hot- it brought back the memories they left in Africa.

She was braiding back her hair, currently slicked with sweat, as Leo whooped at the helm.

"Hot and steamy!" Leo exclaimed from the helm, a wild grin on his face. "Ah, just like Houston- what do you think, Hazel? All we need are some giant mosquitos and then we're the city with no limits!"

"Noooo," Hazel groaned, even though she was hiding a smile. "You probably cursed us, Leo- we're going to get attacked by giant Greek mosquitos now."

Rosie was standing a few yards away from them, next to Nico. She watched Frank smile, laugh, and say something to Hazel and Leo. Rosie thought of the conversation she had with Frank, as they were traveling from Malta.

Frank had tripped, an embarrassing fall that made Rosie turn away so she wouldn't laugh. Leo was right next to Frank, and Rosie was ready for the arsenal of jokes. Instead, Leo had helped him up, and was concerned that Frank had hit his head.

"Geez," Frank had said, coming up to Rosie after he recovered, shaking his head in amazement. "Maybe we should send Leo to spend time with Calypso more often."

"What?" Rosie asked, with more force than she intended to.

Frank blinked, taken aback. He shrugged. "Hazel seems to think something happened between the two of them…"

"Oh."

"Yeah," Frank said, shaking his head. "I don't get it either-"

At that point, Rosie had stopped listening. She was now trying to picture a world in which Leo Valdez was in love with someone. Sure, she and Piper had endured all of Leo's crushes back at Wilderness- Kelsey Carmichael types, girls who were usually completely unattainable and uninterested in Leo. Every week in Wilderness, it seemed to be a new crush, someone Leo was convinced he was "madly" in love with. It was a repetitive cycle of watching him proclaim his love, chasing them, failing, and repeating. And yet, this time...there was no showy, outward gesture. Leo was calm and composed, which worried Rosie the most.

"There!" Nico exclaimed suddenly, bringing Rosie back to the present. He pointed to a river in the distance, snaking through some hills. "Maneuver us that way- we're _very _close to the temple."

As if on cue, black lighting rippled through the sky, making Rosie jump.

"How do you do that?!" Rosie exclaimed, partially terrified and partially in awe.

Nico smirked at her. "I don't know what you mean."

Rosie shoved his arm, playfully. Nico's face shifted from surprise to happy in a matter of seconds. Little did Nico know that once someone gained Rosie as a friend, they _wouldn't _be getting rid of her anytime soon.

"Everyone, arm up," Jason announced, appearing in front of the crew. Leo, try to get us close- but don't land."

All of them gathered on deck, preparing to descend. The ship was currently hovering up the river Nico pointed out. Some ruins stood upon the top of one of the hills- tendrils of black smoke rose from somewhere within.

Rosie, feeling like a pile of nerves, jumped up and down, waving her arms around.

Piper raised her eyebrows at her. "Are you alright?"

"Yup!" she said, continuing to jump. "Psyching myself up." She knew they were probably heading into battle, but couldn't help but be excited for it: she had missed out on the last few, after all. "Look!"

Gleefully, she threw her hands above her head, the water above them exploding up in an impressive formation.

Coach and Hazel started whooping, unable to contain their excitement at the powers that had returned for Rosie.

Piper looked at Coach and Hazel, utterly confused. "Um. What is going on?"

Hazel paused, eyes wide. "Um- nothing. Uh….Rosie's psyching thing must be catching on." Hazel nudged Coach as she began to jump up and down. "Right, Coach?"

"Yeah!" Coach said, trying to muster enthusiasm as he jumped up and down along with Hazel and Rosie. Piper, Jason, Nico, Frank, and Leo gave them weird looks, probably concerned they were losing their minds.

Another strike of black lighting came down, stopping any kind of movement from them.

"The Necromanteion," Nico said. "The House of Hades."

"Can we, um, set down a little closer?" Piper said a little nervously, peering down at the river.

"We can't," Hazel explained. "That's the River Acheron."

"Oh god," Rosie said, immediately embarrassed. "Someone could've_ told me that_-"

"I thought that was in the Underworld," Jason said, confused.

"It is, these are the mortal headquarters," Hazel explained. "This flows straight into the realm of Pluto-uh, I mean, Hades."

Rosie saw Nico raise the scepter of Diocletian out of the corner of her eye. That thing still made her a little nervous. Dead legions had never seemed to be on their side.

Frank seemed to share the same nervousness as her. He cleared his throat, staring at the scepter. "So, um, Nico...have you learned how to use that thing?"

"We'll find out," Nico said in a deadpan tone, and Rosie had the inappropriate urge to laugh. "We won't use it until we have to- too much interference with the Doors of Death might shatter them permanently, leaving a rip we can't fix."

Coach Hedge pounded his fists together. "I'm ready to bust open some monster heads."

Rosie winced. "Coach," she said gently. "Maybe you should stay on board. You can give us back-up with the ballista." She wanted Coach to get back to Mellie- and his future child.

Coach scoffed. "Stay behind? No way!"

Rosie shot a pleading look at Frank who, fortunately, got the message.

"She's right, Coach," Frank said. "Remember Rome? You really saved us with some air support."

Coach's face softened, as he finally gave in and nodded. "Alright-I'll stay behind."

Jason nodded in approval, gripping his sword. "Okay- we're good to go, then. Let's go to the ruins- time to crash Gaea's party."

* * *

Nico led the way, past tourists who didn't even give them a second look. Hazel and Rosie exchanged amused looks- the Mist was a powerful thing.

They reached a stone doorway carved into a hill, where Nico stopped, turning to face the group.

"Okay," he said, exhaling. "This is where it gets difficult."

"So far, it's totally been smooth sailing," Leo said, grinning.

Nico glared at him, and finally, Rosie knew what it was like to not be on the receiving end of that glare.

"We'll see how long you keep that sense of humor, Leo," Nico said, rolling his eyes. "You guys don't understand what's coming- underground, you're going to see things that are hard to look at. You might hear voices. Who has the barley cakes?"

"Got them," Hazel said, pulling out the crackers they had gotten from Triptolemus in Venice.

Rosie bit into her cracker, and felt like gagging.

Leo nudged her, a disgusted look on his face. "Kind of tastes like your cooking."

"Ouch," she said, feeling the palpable tension between them.

"Alright," Nico said, looking slightly green as he gagged. "That'll protect us from the poison."

"Aw," Leo said in a mock upset tone. "Don't tell me I missed the poison."

"Soon enough," Nico muttered. "Just stick together, and maybe we'll avoid getting lost...or going insane."

"Joy," Rosie muttered to herself, following Nico as he led them underground. She hated that it was underground; it made her nervous. However, she just had to remind herself that they were getting closer to Percy and Annabeth.

"The House of Hades is below us," Nico explained as they walked. "These upper levels are newer. Archaeologists didn't realize they weren't digging deep enough."

The tunnel they were in suddenly stopped, a huge block of stone in their way.

"Cave-in?" Jason guessed.

"Test," Nico replied. "Hazel?"

Hazel stepped, placing her hand on the rock, and the entire boulder started to crumble to dust. The tunnel shuddered, cracks appearing in the ceiling. For a brief moment, Rosie had a vision of all of them being crushed under the debris.

As the dust settled, a set of stairs appeared. Pictures of black cattles were painted on the cave's walls.

Rosie could hear Piper sigh upon seeing this.

"I hate cows," she moaned.

"Agreed," Frank said.

"They're just the cattle of Hades," Nico said. "It's a symbol of-"

"Look," Rosie interrupted, pointing.

A chalice gleamed on the first step of the stairwell, looking to be full of green liquid.

Leo whistled. "I'm guessing that's our poison. Yay?"

Nico picked up chalice gingerly, inspecting it. "We're standing at the ancient entrance of the Necromanteion. Odysseus came here, and dozens of other heroes, seeking advice from the dead."

"Did the dead advise them to leave immediately?" Leo asked.

"I'd be okay with that," Piper said.

Nico ignored them, taking a sip from the chalice. He grimaced for a brief second before swallowing. He turned to Jason, offering him the chalice. "You asked me about trust, and risk. Well...here we are, Son of Jupiter- do you trust me?"

Rosie didn't know what that meant- then again, she also had a complicated relationship with Nico.

Jason didn't hesitate, taking the chalice from Nico and drinking from it.

The chalice was passed around, all of them taking sips from it. When it got to Rosie, she tried to ignore the sickly green color of it. She closed her eyes, taking a sip, shivering as she swallowed it.

Once they finished, Nico nodded, apparently satisfied. "Great- congratulations. Assuming this poison doesn't kill us, we should be able to find our way through Necromanteion's first level."

Piper's eyes widened. "Just the first level?"

Nico didn't answer this. Instead, he turned to Hazel, gesturing down the stairs.

"After you, sister."


	24. Among the Dead

**Maryam Clarus- our poor girl is going through so much!**

**Mads-Chikistorm- thank you so much! writing their interactions is so much fun**

**AyeraeW- yeah, i agree- the gods should've kept their promise, her punishment wasn't fitting imo. and HAHA i too fall in love with any guy who pays me attention so I feel that lol**

**SEASBLU- LEO U LITTLE SHIT SMH**

* * *

Rosie kept her mouth shut as they went deeper into the Earth. She figured her friends _probably _didn't want to hear from the girl who had the ability to bury them all instantly.

She left it up to Hazel and Nico, the ones who actually knew what they were doing. As they reached an archway in the shape of a human skull, she felt like they were officially in the world of the dead. The voices Nico had referred to were getting louder, reminding her of the wind palace they had dealt with back in Africa. There was an eerie chill in the air.

Hazel traced her fingers along the entrance. "This is the second entrance to the second level. No traps...but um, my underground senses are getting a little fuzzy. Like...someone's interfering with."

"The sorceress Hecate warned you about?" Jason asked. "What was her name again?"

Hazel's test was coming. Rosie knew with absolute certainty that she was ready. There was no more training left for her to give Hazel.

Hazel chewed her lip with a thoughtful look on her face. "Maybe," she decided. "Let's not say her name right now. But..be alert, guys. The dead are stronger than the living from here on out."

"Where are the monsters?" Frank asked. "I thought Gaea's army was guarding the Doors."

"At this point, I'd rather just have a fight and get it over with," Jason said, looking a bit paranoid. He looked pale- and again, Rosie was wishing they already had Annabeth and Percy, their leaders, back. She was sick of looking at Jason Grace, the Roman praetor with dark bags under his eyes- lords know he didn't want that title anymore. She was sick of the sadness on his face whenever the rest of the crew would discuss their favorite childhood memories. Or the wistful look in his eyes when she caught him reading books with worlds he'd rather be in. She thought of him telling her about the games he would play with Grant as kids-he seemed to clutch onto that memory tightly, like he didn't have much else to show for from being a kid.

"Careful what you wish for, man," Leo sighed, a fireball appearing in his hand. "Personally, I'm hoping for the best case scenario: nobody's home! We go in, grab Percy and Annabeth, destroy the Doors of Death, and walk out!"

"Yeah," Frank grumbled. "Because _that _happens."

The tunnel shook, rubble raining down from the ceiling. Rosie winced, seemingly every time it happened.

"The Doors of Death just opened again," Nico stated calmly.

"What is it like, every fifteen minutes?" Piper asked.

"Twelve," Nico corrected quietly. "We should hurry. Percy and Annabeth are in danger, I can sense it."

Rosie gulped. "Well, let's get a move on, then."

Traveling deeper, the corridors widened. This seemed to increase the nerves of everyone- more space meant more room for monsters to attack. Blind corners were everywhere, the perfect places for ambushes.

"The tunnel from here is unstable," Hazel announced, still taking the lead. "The floor might-well, just follow me. Step _exactly _where I step."

The group followed Hazel's lead carefully, practically tiptoeing.

"Worst game of following the leader _ever_," Rosie muttered.

Frank stopped suddenly, causing Rosie to almost collide into him. His face froze, and he looked terrified.

"Uh, Frank...buddy? Are you alright?" she whispered behind him.

"Nothing," he murmured distractedly. "I just-"

It wasn't nothing. Frank looked like he was ready to break form and go AWOL.

"Frank," Hazel said sharply. "Don't move."

"Lead where?" Frank asked aloud suddenly, clearly hearing something they weren't.

Leo laughed nervously. "Uh, big guy? Could you please not freak out on us?"

"I'm okay," Frank said in a strangled tone. "Just..a voice."

"I warned you," Nico said. "It'll only get worse. We should-"

"_Leo,_" Piper exclaimed. "Stop breathing on my shoulder!"

"I'm not, Pipes!"

"Sorry, Piper," Jason muttered sheepishly. "That was me."

"Come on, Pipes, we all know Leo isn't tall enough to reach your shoulder."

"Low blow, Freckles-"

"Guys," Hazel interrupted. "Just...wait."

Hazel went ahead alone, returning a few seconds later.

"Scary room ahead," she reported. "No one panic."

"Bit of a contradiction there, my friend," Leo said.

The cavern was circular, the walls made of tunnels leading into different directions. The floor underneath them was mosaic, a grotesque one made up of patterns of human bones and gems.

"Touch nothing," Hazel said, looking at Leo pointedly.

Leo scoffed, offended. "I wasn't going to!"

Piper was glancing at the different tunnels. "So, um, which way?"

Nico looked uncertain; Rosie could see him fidget nervously. "This should be the room where the priests invoked the most powerful spirits. One of these passages leads deeper into the temple, the third level and the altar of Hades itself. But I'm not sure which-"

"That one," Frank cut in suddenly, pointing to a tunnel directly across from them at the other end of the room.

Frank sounded extremely confident, but Rosie wasn't sure why. She couldn't see anything that would make that tunnel special.

Nico echoed her sentiments, saying, "Why that one, Frank?"

"You don't see the ghost?"

Nico coughed, a little uncomfortable. "Um...ghost?"

Frank pulled at his shirt collar as if it were bothering him. He looked agitated, eyes glued on the tunnel ahead.

The floor beneath them started vibrating, as Frank's eyes grew wide.

"We need to get to that exit!" Frank yelled. "Now!"

Hazel was nearly knocked over as she quickly blocked Frank's path, shaking her head. "Frank no! The floor isn't stable...I have no clue what's underneath, I need to scout a safe path!"

Hazel and Frank hurried forward, as Leo followed them with his light source. Rosie and the others guarded the rear.

The cavern exploded into a volley of monstrous roars- the sure sign of monsters approaching.

"They're coming!" Jason warned sharply, drawing his sword.

Nico nodded, holding up his scepter, as Piper and Rosie drew their respective weapons.

"Hazel, keep going!" Nico ordered.

A group of Earthborn, six-armed clay-like giants, appeared, throwing stones at the floor. As Rosie slashed at a nearby gryphon, she realized the floor was shattering, a fissure spreading rapidly towards Frank, Leo, and Hazel.

"Rosie!" Jason barked a warning, and she had to step out of the way of a spear at the last second.

"The others!" she yelled, gesturing across the room.

They had made it to the tunnel Frank pointed out, scrambling into there for shelter from the monsters. She, Jason, Piper, and Nico were trapped, surrounded by monsters on all sides.

"Nico!" came the distant yell of Frank. "Use the scepter!"

Nico snapped his head toward Rosie. "Help me with the fissure."

"Got it," she said, crouching down on the ground, Piper and Jason covering her back. She placed her hand on the ground. She _knew_ she could channel her crumbling into something constructive; she had done it with Hera's cage.

Dust exploded from the ground, and she grinned as the fissure became bigger under her hand.

"Go, Nico!"

Nico raised the scepter, the purple orb shimmering in the cavern air. Ghosts materialized, pouring from the walls, and climbing out of the fissure. Rosie fell back onto her butt, aware they were taking physical forms- like walking corpses.

Nico turned to Jason. "Your turn, praetor."

Jason had turned deathly pale, looking like a ghost himself. It struck her that he was probably re-living Charleston- what he _thought _had happened to Calla in Charleston. Rosie exchanged a look with Piper-could he pull this off?

Jason blinked, suddenly speaking Latin. Rosie had no clue what he was saying, but the legionnaires started forming ranks. The monsters looked slightly confused, buying them some time.

"Is it working?" Piper asked over the sounds of the battle.

"I don't know-"

_BOOM_

Rosie and Piper turned towards the noise, seeing Frank emerged from the dust...without Leo and Hazel. Part of the cavern's wall had collapsed, blocking Leo and Hazel's exit.

Rosie gulped as she watched Frank panting, his face becoming increasingly angry.

She knew what this meant- it was time for Hazel's test.


	25. Frank the Friendly Soldier

**Mads-Chikistorm- thank you! i appreciate it :D**

**SEASBLU- i agree; tests are the worst. especially testing anxiety**

**Maryam Clarus- omg always choose sleep! Have you read all of HoH? i hope this doesn't spoil you! I'm also very jealous if you haven't, i wish i could re-experience the books for the 1st time again**

**Guest 1- i've read up to the burning maze- haven't gotten the chance to read tyrant's tomb yet. as far as a rewrite, maybe ;)**

**Guest 2- yeah no worries i'm still updating! i should be finished uploading by june 10th**

* * *

"Are these guys aware they're on _our _side?" Rosie exclaimed, running past Jason as one of the dead legionnaires they conjured was chasing her.

"I'm trying my best!" Jason snapped, flustered.

The legionnaires were a bit...aimless. They floundered around, chest-bumping one another and struggling with their weapons, only to occasionally hit a monster or two.

It didn't help that the Earthborn kept throwing stones at their soldiers, instantly vaporizing them. Empousai gnashed their fangs viciously, reminding Rosie of Isabel and her cronies back at Wilderness. Monsters were throwing vials of Greek fires at them- Rosie tried her best to extinguish these. In fact, most of the monsters seemed to possess a fiery object, and most seem dead-set on burning Rosie to a crisp.

"Why aren't they listening to you?" Piper cried to Jason, shooting out a ham from her cornucopia.

Jason shook his head, as Nico did a poor attempt at commanding the legionnaires himself. "I...I'm not sure."

"WATCH OUT!"

Frank had appeared, stabbing a cyclops approaching them.

Rosie's jaw dropped seeing Frank; his shirt was soaked in blood, having been shot with an arrow.

"Uh, Frank, buddy, you're _kinda _bleeding-"

"Yeah, just stab your buddy there!" Piper was using her charmspeak to encourage monsters to attack one another.

Nico let out a yell of aggravation, pushing one of the legionnaires out of the way. "These stupid ghosts! They aren't listening!"

"I'm sorry…" Jason muttered in a low tone.

Frank nearly collided with Rosie, attempting to steady himself. He was sweaty, and looked to be on the verge of losing consciousness.

"Frank!" She snapped.

"Cohorts!' He yelled in a commanding tone. "Locks shields!"

Slowly, the zombies obeyed, putting their shields together in a ragged defensive formation.

"How the hell did you do that?" Jason exclaimed, suddenly defensive.

"I'm the ranking Roman officer," he said. "They-uh, they don't recognize you. Sorry."

Jason winced. Rosie figured this made sense- how were the legionnaires supposed to follow someone who wasn't even sure how he felt about the Roman part of his identity? Jason was still trying to figure out who he was and what he wanted, and the soldiers sensed that.

"How can we help?" he finally spoke.

A gryphon screeched overhead, Nico smacking it with the scepter.

Rosie shook her head. "Come on, people, we're trying to have a conversation here!"

"_Orbem formate!" _Frank commanded.

About two dozen zombies obeyed this order, forming a small ring around them. It wouldn't help for long; too many monsters were still charging forward.

Frank moaned. "My rank!" he said miserably.

"All of these monsters are rank!" Piper yelled, stabbing a centaur.

Rosie doubled over, clutching her side as she laughed. "Good one, Pipes!" Rosie flicked her hand at an earthborn, cracking it into a million pieces.

"No," Frank said. "I'm only a centurion."

Jason cursed, waving his sword dangerously close to Rosie's head. "That's right- you can't control a whole legion. You're not high enough in rank."

"So?" Rosie asked. "Can't we do a switcheroo?"

"Remind me to buy you a dictionary," Nico said, shaking his head. "But she's right, Jason- can't you promote Frank?"

"Promote?" Frank and Jason said in unison.

"Yes, promote," Piper snapped impatiently. "Come on, Jason, do it!"

Jason glanced at the ground, and Rosie realized he was afraid. For some reason, he wasn't ready to give it up.

"I...I can't," he blurted out.

"What?" Nico exclaimed.

Jason looked panicked, as he attempted to explain himself. "I...I just...that's it?" He said, his face falling. "I thought I'd have more time to...fix things."

Rosie and Piper glanced at one another, and Rosie gave her a nod. He needed to know.

"Calla's death wasn't your fault," Piper said to him.

Jason scoffed. "Of course it was-"

"Your Dad did it, Jason- it was all Zeus. He used the mist to manipulate you and Reyna- it's why Grant left. You didn't do anything. He's the one who killed Calla."

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Nico muttered under his breath to Frank.

"Absolutely none," Frank panted back.

Jason's face showed a series of emotions as he attempted to process this: shock, disbelief, anger, sorrow.

"What? I-I don't understand."

"Promoting Frank doesn't take it all away," Rosie said softly to him. "Grant, Calla, Reyna- you can still hold onto that part of you."

"The title praetor means nothing," Piper said. She awkwardly glanced at Frank. "Sorry, Frank."

Jason suddenly stood straighter, like a true soldier.

"Frank Zhang! I, Jason Grace, praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, give you my final order: I resign my post and give you emergency field promotion to praetor, with the full powers of that rank. Take command of this legion!" Jason's voice echoed throughout the chamber, booming powerfully.

Frank seemed to grow taller. Maybe it was her eyesight, but he looked like he was _glowing. _He didn't seem bothered by the arrow in his arm anymore.

"Legion!" Frank yelled in a booming voice that echoed throughout the cavern. "_Agmen formate!_"

Instantaneously, every dead legionnaire in the cavern drew his sword and raised his shield. They hacked their weapons at the monsters across from them, a wall of defense now in front of them.

"Archers!" Frank commanded. "_Eiaculare flammas!_"

Ghosts mounted arrows in unison, sending flaming arrows towards the enemy.

A noise came out of Nico, and everyone turned to him in shock.

"Wait," Jason said, a slow smile appearing.

"Holy shit," Rosie said in awe. "Was that a laugh?"

"No," Piper said, shaking her head in disbelief. "It can't be-"

"He totally laughed!"

"Let's turn this tide!" Nico said, grinning.

"_Cuneum formate!"_ Frank yelled.

The battle began to turn in their favor. Frank became their leader, shouting orders in Latin to the legionnaires.

Rosie decided that this was his Emily Zhang moment- pure badassery. He was the true Roman soldier he always wanted to be- it made sense why he idolized Jason so much when they first met.

"Jason!" Frank called, grabbing his attention. "Fly a few legionnaires across the pit, will you? The enemy's left flank is weak- see it? Take it!"

Jason smiled, bowing- what a nerd, she thought. "My pleasure!"

Three dead Romans rose into the air, flying over the chasm. Jason then flew himself across, cutting through the enemy with the soldiers.

"Rosie!"

Rosie focused, doing her best soldier impression- standing up straight, saluting Frank. "Sir, yes, sir!"

She saw a quick glimpse of a smile on his face. "Take care of the Earthborn, will you?"

"Aye, aye, captain!"

"That's praetor to you!" Frank grinned, as Jason flew Rosie across the chasm.

"Alright, come here, play-doh men!" she called, chasing down the Earthborn, smashing them to pieces with one flick of her hand, the cavern rumbling pleasantly.

"Nico," Frank continued to command like he had been doing it his whole life. "Get me more numbers!"

"I'm on it." Nico raised the scepter of Diocletian, more soldiers spilling out to help fight.

"Piper, counter those empousai! We need some chaos," Frank exclaimed.

Rosie could see Piper grin from across the chasm. "My middle name is chaos!" She started slinging insults at the female demons: "Your makeup is smeared! Your friend's talking about you!"

As Rosie and Jason kept the fight up across the chasm, she realized the dead legionnaires were forming a bridge- perfect for their friends to cross over.

"Hold on a little longer!" Rosie yelled to Jason over the chaos- he nodded.

Frank took the lead, charging forward with his sword. Frank was glowing as he charged across, an expression on his face that Rosie had never seen. He sliced through monsters like they were nothing- dust showering upon their heads as they diminished.

Monsters were attempting to retreat, but Frank's legion didn't allow that.

"Testudo formation!" Frank shouted. "Single file, advance!"

More soldiers kept arising, thanks to Nico's doing. Frank kept wading forward, the sheer force of his presence knocking monsters over.

Rosie was covered in wet clay, but having a blast. She slashed and dodged, stabbing clay monsters as she went. Her powers were different- dare she say it, easier to control. She again wondered the impact of emotions on her powers- this was the most level headed she had been in a while, and it showed.

"I'm having too much fun with this!" Piper yelled to her, grinning as she made two empousa engage in a catfight.

"I'm oddly jealous!" Rosie shot back.

Before she knew it, the last Earthborn had exploded….the battle was over.

Frank still seemed to be going through his fiery transformation, for his pants were smoldering, along with his reddish glow.

"Frank," Jason said, eyes wide. "You're on fire."

Frank looked down, as if noticing his pants for the first time. He patted at them, putting the flames out.

"And...um, no biggie, but there's an arrow in your arm," Rosie mentioned.

"Yeah," Frank nodded, pulling out the arrow without wincing at all. "I'll be okay."

Piper forced Frank to eat some ambrosia. She bandaged one of his wounds, shaking her head in amazement.

"Frank, that was amazing. Completely terrifying...but amazing."

Rosie waggled her eyebrows at him. "Praetor Frank," she said, whistling.

"Oh, shut up," Frank said, rolling his eyes.

Jason clapped him on the shoulder lightly. "It's well deserved," he said. "You were meant to be a praetor."

Frank swallowed hard, looking like he was going to cry. "Thanks, Jason."

"The dead won't stay much longer," Nico piped in.

Frank faced the troops. "Legion!"

The zombie soldiers snapped to attention, looking at him.

"You fought well- I thank you. You may now rest- dismissed."

The soldiers, one by one, crumbled into piles of bones, armor, shields, and weapons.

"Hazel and Leo," Frank muttered. "We have to find them."

Rosie glanced at the tunnel those two had gone into, now blocked off by rubble.

"We can't go that way," Nico said. "Maybe..."

Nico suddenly swayed dangerously, looking pale. Jason quickly grabbed him, preventing him from falling.

"Nico," Rosie said, stepping closer to him. "What's up?"

"The Doors," he gritted out, clutching his side in pain. "Something's happening. Percy and Annabeth...we need to go now."

"How, though?" Jason asked. "The tunnel is gone."

Rosie glanced at the walls of the chamber, noticing an eerie glow on the walls. Her friends didn't seem to notice. She suddenly felt like maybe, this place was full of more surprises than they thought.

She placed a hand on the wall, the Mist bending her to will. A door opened, opening up.

"I think I can fix that."

* * *

They followed this passageway. It was dark, narrow, and slightly odorous. Rosie knew there was probably more to this place than meets the eye. She'd have to ask Hazel about it later.

They eventually reached another door, and Rosie swung it open, aware that it led to another room.

The Doors of Death were already gone- that was most likely Hazel's doing. Several faces turned to look at them as they entered, one by one. There were people that made sense, like Leo and Hazel. But there was also who must've been Hecate- Rosie recognized her from Hazel's description. The blonde goddess' deathly black eyes bore into them, her pale skin seemingly glowing in the air. Her dark gown made it look like she was levitating.

There was also a twenty-foot giant towering over them, wearing a robe of shadows. His ash-colored legs swung dangerously as he growled at them.

But Rosie wasn't paying attention to any of that. She was looking beyond them, at the two figures clutching on to one another- Percy and Annabeth.

Percy's eyes met hers, and she felt a wave of relief so strong, she wanted to sink to her knees.

Jason gripped his sword. "Sorry, we're late," he said. "Is this the guy who needs killing?"


	26. Reunions and Rumblings

**SEASBLU- percabeth is strong af**

**AyeraeW- one of my favorite badass scenes from the book! and yes, the "feelings" talk is coming soonnnn**

**radoddish- we love badass demigods**

**all about hope- yes i am! currently in the process of writing it :)**

* * *

Their group went to work, and she marveled at how well they worked together, a huge contrast from when they first all met back in New Rome. The giant- Clytius- didn't stand a chance against them.

He was surrounded, their group weaving and dodging his attacks. Rosie and Piper ran around him in circles, stabbing at his legs. Jason would fly up, aiming to kick him in his face. Hazel was whipping her sword around, as Frank- Phaetor Zhang- charged like a bull.

"Nice of you to join us!" Leo shouted, grinning as he shot fire at Clytius' legs.

Even Percy and Annabeth were on their feet- too weak to fight, but obviously wanting to cheer them on. Rosie would glance at them sideways as she fought, unable to contain her happiness. They were alive, they were_ okay. _

As they charged the giant, the darkness and shadows surrounding him disappeared. The only thing left behind was his battered armor; ichor was pouring from several of his wounds.

With one swift kick to his chest, Jason managed to shatter the giant's breastplate.

Clytius dropped his sword, falling to his knees. All of them surrounded the giant in a huge, intimidating circle.

Hecate then stepped forward, torches having appeared in her hands.

"And so it ends," she said softly, looking at Clytius.

_It does not end. _Rosie didn't know how, but the giant's voice echoed from above. _My brethren have risen. Gaea waits only for the blood of Olympus. It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?_

Hecate didn't bother responding, turning her torches upside down. She thrust them like daggers at Clytius's head. Clytius winced, falling face down onto the ground. His body crumbled into ash. A breeze blew in, taking the ashes away. There were no remnants of the giant left.

For a second, no one said anything.

Hecate turned to face Hazel. "You should go now, Hazel Levesque. Lead your friends out of this place."

Hazel gritted her teeth, slightly rolling her eyes. "What, no thank you? That's it?"

Rosie felt a flash of anger on Hazel's behalf- her prodigy deserved more than that. Typical goddess behavior.

Hecate laughed. "You look in the wrong place for gratitude. There's still much to be done. Speed to Athens. Clytius was not wrong- the giants have risen. _All of them. _Gaea is on the edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her."

The chamber rumbled, dust raining down.

"The House of Hades is unstable," Hecate said. "Leave now. We shall meet again."

She disappeared, taking a layer of the Mist with her.

"She seems nice," Percy grumbled.

Rosie snapped around, aware she was hearing Percy's voice.

She stared at him and Annabeth for a second. Then, she let out an _extremely _high-pitched shriek, throwing herself into Percy, the two of them falling to the ground. She noticed Leo smiling at them. His smile, however, had a certain sadness to it.

"That was ear-shattering high," Nico winced, although Rosie spied a small smile on his face.

Percy was laughing underneath Rosie, as she was aware that Piper was hugging Annabeth, crying.

Leo, on the other hand, was whooping and waving his arms. "Back from Tartarus- that's how we do it!"

"I've missed you, Ro," Percy said.

Rosie realized that now _she _was crying. "Don't do that again," she begged, hiccuping. "Please don't do that."

Percy grinned. "Wasn't planning on it."

She helped Percy to his feet, where he was suddenly lifted off the ground by Jason.

"Bro!" Jason exclaimed, his smile wide.

"Dude!" Percy replied back.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, smiling. "The bromance lives on."

Rosie grinned at her. "Hey, Chase. I owe you a hug."

Annabeth's face faltered as she slowly backed away from Rosie. "Oh, god. Please, no. Not a Rosie hug."

Rosie gave Annabeth her best mischievous face, chasing her down and hugging her tightly, the others laughing around them.

She didn't want to let go- even when she could hear Annabeth struggling to breathe.

"Thanks...Rosie-" she broke off with a pant. "I've...missed this. Now, please let go-my poor ribs."

Despite the happy reunion, the ceiling shuddered again. Cracks appeared, dust raining down.

"We've gotta get out of here," Jason said. "Uh, Frank- any way those soldiers could come back and help us?"

Frank shook his head, sheepish. "I think I got everything from them."

"What?" Hazel asked.

Rosie grinned. "Oh, man, you should've _seen _him! Your man is now _praetor _Frank Zhang."

"Really?" Hazel asked with shock on her face.

"Praetor Zhang," Leo said in an exaggerated Southern accent, whistling. "Well, I'll be."

Hazel wrapped her arms around Frank, kissing him. "I think it's perfect."

"Yeah, but enough about him," Rosie said. "You, on the hand, Ms. Mist-"

"Later," Hazel said gently, laughing. "I think I have an idea- we can shadow travel out of here."

Nico shook his head, grimacing in pain."Hazel, I can barely do that with just myself and a few others, I don't know if-"

"I'll help." Her time in the House of Hades had changed her- Hazel Levesque was no longer going to allow herself to be diminished.

The ceiling was beginning to peel, huge chunks of it falling around them.

"Sounds good," Nico said quickly, not bothering to argue. "Everyone, grab hands!"

They appeared on the hillside overlooking the River Acheron. The sun was shining brightly, making the water glitter.

Rosie's head was pounding, and she felt like she might throw up- was that really shadow traveling? Dear god, that was painful.

She looked down, realizing she was holding Leo's hand.

She quickly let go, staggering backwards onto the grass.

Leo gave her a tight smile, as their friends around them also began to stir, recovering from the trip.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said.

"Thanks. I'm...I'm glad you're okay, too." She paused, a sudden burst of courage coming up to the surface. "And Leo...I have to talk to you later."

She had to get it out. The words she had been wanting to tell Leo were consuming her, making it hard to pretend like things were okay. She owed it to herself to tell him how she felt- damn the reaction.

Leo's face fell, but he nodded. "We'll talk."

The ship was still floating over the river, a few hundred yards away. They knew they should signal to Coach that they were okay, but right now...none of them wanted to do anything but sit and exchange stories.

Frank retold the story of the ghostly legion, and the army of monsters that fought them. Nico, Rosie, Jason, and Piper made sure Frank didn't diminish his impact in the story.

Hazel then told the group what had happened with her and Leo, and her overall success with Mist-control. She managed to fight off Pasiphae, who mentioned that the Labyrinth was regenerating. Rosie noticed the look of fear that passed between Percy and Annabeth when Hazel said this.

"But, enough about us," Frank said, cautiously glancing at Percy and Annabeth. "You guys...what happened….down _there_? I mean-"

Frank trailed off, the group falling silent. That was the story they were all dying to hear- but no one knew how to bring it up.

Percy laced his fingers through Annabeth's, giving her hand a squeeze.

"I don't think we're ready to remember it," Percy answered honestly. "But, I promise we'll tell you guys the story one day. Just...not today."

Annabeth nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Right now…" She glanced down the river, her sentence faltering. "Uh...I think that's our ride."

Sure enough, the Argo II was approaching, its sails catching the wind. Rosie could hear Festus creaking and clanking in jubilation. Oh, how she loved that thing.

Leo's face broke out into a grin. "That's my boy!"

As the ship approached, they could make out Coach, standing at the prow.

"It's about time!" Coach yelled, trying to sound stern but failing miserably. "You've kept our visitor waiting!"

"Visitor?" Hazel asked him.

A dark-haired girl in a dark purple gown appeared, her face covered in soot and bloody scratches. For a second, Rosie had no idea who she was.

That second was short-lived- it suddenly hit her.

Reyna had arrived.


	27. Coach Has an Idea

**AyeraeW- ooh i agree, reyna is the best! i kind of want to write a fic for**

**Mads-Chikistorm- ...kinda :D the end of this chapter will answer that !**

**all about hope- thank you so much! and omg, no, i read and try to respond to every review! i really appreciate you guys taking time out of the day to write one!**

**SEASBLU- Hahaha ILL JOIN YOU IN DYING FROM JOY**

* * *

"I'm fine, I promise," Reyna said, brushing a stray tear away. She glanced at the Athena Parthenos, which had managed to be lowered onto the hill, all thanks to Leo's mechanical hoisting system. Reyna was retelling her story, having gotten up to the part where she landed on the Argo II. Unfortunately, her pegasus Scipio had collapsed, and Reyna had put him out of his misery. It was a story that made Rosie's heart hurt, as she thought of Karey.

Leo, who still seemed to be slightly afraid of Reyna, handed her a tissue, quickly drawing his arm back.

Reyna smiled her thanks, dabbing her face with the tissue. She glanced up at the statue. "It looks newly made."

"Nothing a little Windex won't do," Leo said.

Reyna nodded, her expression indicating that she was currently thinking of a million things.

"Hey, Reyna?" Annabeth said softly. "Come eat with us."

Reyna looked at them in their little circle, drinking juice and eating cheese sandwiches. After a brief second, she nodded.

"All right," she said, placing herself down next to Annabeth.

She glanced around at each member of the circle. Rosie immediately stood straighter when she felt Reyna's eyes on her- that girl was intimidating.

Her eyes landed on Frank. "So. Frank Zhang...praetor." She said the words carefully, like she was testing out how they sounded.

Frank wiped some crumbs from his chin. "Yeah. Well- field promotion."

"But leading a legion of ghosts," Reyna mentioned.

"Reyna," Jason said, his eyes glittering. The news of what actually happened to Calla seemed to rejuvenate him- while he wasn't happy, per se, he was at least absolved of personal guilt. He hadn't stopped smiling once since Reyna popped up. "You've should've seen him."

"He was really good," Rosie piped in timidly, keeping her eyes on Coach, who was currently balancing a cheese sandwich on his nose.

"Amazing," Piper reaffirmed.

"Frank will make an amazing praetor," Hazel said proudly, squeezing Frank's shoulder. Rosie still couldn't believe his transformation- he looked like a linebacker that could easily pulverize Rosie.

"I have no doubt," Reyna said. "I approve."

Frank blinked. "Wait, you do?"

Reyna smiled, albeit a little tearfully. "The hero who helped to bring back the eagle of the legion. A son of Mars-" She broke off with a sharp hiccup. "I've always had a soft spot for children of Mars."

Jason cleared his throat. "Um, speaking of, Reyna...I have something to say about Calla." He glanced at the rest of the group awkwardly, unsure whether to continue.

Reyna frowned. "Calla?" She asked, vigorously wiping her face with the tissue. "What about Calla?"

"It had nothing to do with us, Reyna," Jason said to her softly. "It was a trick of the Mist- it was all...my, um, dad's doing."

"Jupiter?" she exclaimed. "I...I don't understand. How could you possibly know that?"

Jason gulped, preparing to say what would no doubt be a shock to Reyna. "Grant's alive."

Reyna choked on her sandwich, leading Annabeth to quickly hit her back. Reyna coughed, regaining her breath.

"I'm sorry," she said, her cheeks turning pink. "What?"

Jason gestured to Rosie and Piper. "These two ran into him back at Bologna."

Reyna turned to Piper and Rosie with a scrutinizing gaze, her eyes shiny with tears.

"You ran into Grant?" Reyna asked softly, a hopeful look on her face.

Piper nodded. "Rosie and I talked to him- he's good. He..he misses you- the both of you. I know he does."

"I thought he was dead," Reyna said miserably.

"Me too," Jason admitted.

Reyna blinked, clearly still trying to process this. "Right. Okay. Um…" She turned back to Frank, rubbing her eyes again. "I'm just wondering how to convince the Twelfth Fulminata."

Frank scowled. "Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing. But...the legion will listen to you, Reyna. You made it here alone, across the ancient lands."

"I broke the laws of the legion," Reyna said flatly.

"Just like me and Grant!" Jason tried to pipe in cheerfully.

"We all have," Frank said. "Caesar broke the law when he crossed the Rubicon. Great leaders have to think outside the box sometimes."

Reyna shook her head. "I appreciate it, Frank, but I'm not Caesar. After finding Jason's note in Diocletian's Palace, tracking you down was easy. I only did what I thought was necessary."

Percy smiled at her, leaning over Annabeth and nudging her knee. "Reyna, you're too modest. Flying halfway across the world by yourself to answer Annabeth's plea, because you knew it was our best chance for peace? That's pretty freaking heroic."

"Badass," Rosie said solemnly.

Reyna gave her a familiar look- the look of someone who wasn't used to Rosie Reiger's personality yet. She turned back to Percy. "Easy for you to say- you're the demigod who fell into Tartarus and somehow found his way back."

"With help," Annabeth smirked.

"Oh, definitely," Reyna said. "Without you, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag."

"True," Annabeth agreed.

"Hey!" Percy complained, smiling.

The group started laughing. Rosie noticed Percy's smile fade, clearly in thought. She was sort of worried about those two- Annabeth and Percy. Who knows the trauma they were going to deal with at some point. She knew you didn't come out of Tartarus unscathed.

She made a promise right then and there that she would do anything for him. She wouldn't let him or Annabeth wither away, destroyed by darkness.

Leo pulled a tiny screwdriver out of his tool belt, stabbing a chocolate-covered strawberry. He passed it to Coach.

"So...we've got this slightly used forty-foot-tall statue of Athena," he said. "Any ideas of what to do with it?"

Reyna looked up at the statue. "As fine as it looks here, I didn't come all this way to just admire it. According to Annabeth, it must be returned to Camp Half- Blood by a Roman leader. Am I correct in this?"

Annabeth nodded. "I had a dream...in, um, Tartarus. I was back at camp, and my mom- Athena- said a Roman must bring her to Half-Blood Hill."

"It makes sense," Nico admitted. "The statue is a symbol. A Roman returning it to the Greeks...that could heal the historic rift. Maybe it'll heal the gods and their split personalities."

"Now, hold on," Coach cut in. "I like peace as much as the next satyr-"

"You hate peace," Leo corrected.

"My point, Valdez, is that we're only-what, a few days from Athens? We got an army of giants waiting for us there. We went to all the trouble of saving this statue-"

"That was mostly me," Annabeth reminded him.

"-because that prophecy called it the giants' bane," Coach continued. "So why aren't we taking it to Athens with us? It looks like a ballistic missile to me-"

Piper cleared her throat. "Um, Coach, most of us are certain Gaea is rising at Camp Half-Blood." She whipped out her dagger, Katoptris. "Since we got back to the ship, I've been seeing some bad stuff in my knife. The Roman legion is within striking distance of camp."

"Octavian," Reyna growled. "I told him to wait."

"I should've decapitated more of his bears," Rosie muttered.

"He's intent on war," Annabeth said. "He'll have it, unless we stop him."

"That's not the worst of it," Piper winced. "I saw images of a possible future- camp in flames, Roman and Greek demigods lying dead. And Gaea…"

Piper's voice broke off, unable to finish her sentence.

_To storm or fire the world must fall_

"So Reyna takes the statue," Percy said. "We continue onto Athens."

Leo shrugged. "Fine by me. But, uh, a few pesky logistical problems. We got what- two weeks until that Roman feast day when Gaea is supposed to rise?"

"Feast of Spes," Jason said. "That's on the first of is-"

"July eighteenth," Rosie spoke up. "We have fifteen days."

"It took us eighteen days to get from Rome to here," Hazel winced. "A trip that should've taken two or three days, max."

"So, with our usual luck," Leo offered. "_Maybe _we have enough time to get the Argo II to Athens, find the giants, and stop them from waking Gaea. Maybe. But how is Reyna supposed to get this massive statue back to Camp Half- Blood before the Greeks and Romans put each other through the ringer? Reyna doesn't even have her pegasus anymore." He faltered upon seeing Reyna's annoyed expression. "Uh, sorry-"

"Fine," Reyna snapped, perhaps remembering that Leo did blow up half of the Forum in New Rome. "Unfortunately- Leo is right. I don't know how to transport something so large. I was hoping you all would have the answer to that."

"The Labyrinth?" Hazel offered. "I mean, if Pasiphae really reopened it, and I think she has-"

"No." Percy and Annabeth spoke in unison.

"We don't mean to shoot you down, Hazel," Percy apologized. "It's just...the passages in the Labyrinth are probably too narrow for the statue-"

"And even if it is reopening," Annabeth continued. "We don't know what it might be like now. It was dangerous enough before- under Daedalus's control, I mean. Hazel, your underground senses could probably guide Reyna through, but no one else would stand a chance. And we need you. If we lost you-"

"Right," Hazel said miserably. "Nevermind."

"I can go," Frank volunteered. "I mean, I should go- I'm a praetor now. Maybe Leo can create a sled, or-"

"No, Frank Zhang." Reyna gave him a tired smile. "You're needed here- hopefully we can work together in the future. But right now, you are one of the eight of the prophecy."

"I'm not," Nico said.

Hazel set down her fork. "Nico-"

"No, really, I'll go," he said. "I'll transport the statue with shadow travel."

"Um," Percy stated. "Isn't that dangerous, though? You've always said transporting just yourself was dangerous and unpredictable. You once ended up in China. Transporting two people and a statue-"

"I've changed since I was in Tartarus," Nico snapped.

"Nico," Jason intervened gently. "We aren't questioning your power- we just don't want you to kill yourself trying."

"I can do it!' he insisted. "I'll make short jumps- a few hundred miles each time. I mean, I'll need Reyna to defend me and the statue afterwards, of course, I'll be in no shape to fight myself."

"I say we let him go," Rosie offered.

"Oh, please," Frank said with a laugh. "You just want to get rid of Nico."

"Nico and I are friends!" she argued in a shocked tone.

Nico winced. "We're acquaintances," he said dryly, clearly joking.

Rosie threw the remnants of her sandwich at Nico, noticing Percy's amused face.

"Any objections, then?" Reyna asked. No one spoke. "Very well. I see no better option. However, there will be many monster attacks. I would feel better taking a third person."

"Coach Hedge," Frank blurted immediately.

Rosie nodded vigorously, giving Frank a subtle thumbs-up. "Yes! Coach!"

Percy stared at the two of them. "Um, any reason why?"

"Coach is the best choice," Frank argued. "The only choice, actually. He's a good fighter, and an even better protector."

"A faun," Reyna said flatly.

"Satyr!" Coach barked. "Sure, I'll go. My fighting skills obviously make me the best candidate. But..I don't know about leaving you kids." His face brightened, looking at Rosie. "I have an idea! A way to stay connected. So I can make sure you cupcakes aren't misbehaving."

"Um...what?" she asked. What did it have to do with her?

"Empathy link," he said firmly, not looking away from Rosie.

Percy perked up. "That's actually a good idea, Coach."

Annabeth nodded. "An empathy link would be perfect."

"I'm sorry," Rosie said, blinking. "What?" She had no clue what an empathy link was.

Percy shot her a grin. "Oh- you're going to like this."


	28. To the Stars and Beyond

**last chapter!**

**mads-chikistorm- yay! excitement makes me happy to hear :)**

**ayeraew- haha thank you! tbh, i don't remember rick's interpretation of an empathy link, so i think mine is going to be a little different :)**

**all about hope- no one could ever review too much :) and yes! i definitely want to focus on percy and annabeth post-tartarus more than rick too- i shared the same frustrations as you**

**maryam clarus- definitely not ;)**

* * *

"Um," she said nervously. "Could you say it one more time?"

Coach exhaled impatiently. "An empathy link," he explained. "Is a sort of telepathic connection that I can set up between you and me. We'll be able to have visions of each other's locations, and sort of...sense where the other person is. It's an emotional connection, I guess."

Everyone was on the ship, having already said their goodbyes- that was, besides Rosie, Percy, and Annabeth. Coach was getting ready to head out with Reyna and Nico, but wanted to set up this so-called "empathy link" with Rosie. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but had disturbing visions of Coach being able to read her thoughts.

"Okay," she said, trying to wrap her head around it. "Um...I mean, yes. I want to know if you guys are okay."

"Good!" Coach said brightly. "I'll set it up- don't need you for that process. One minor thing, though! Try not to die, otherwise I might die."

"Wait, _what_?"

"Minor flaw in the system," he said, brushing her off. "We'll be fine- I think. And, oh! There might be some side effects, but those should wear off in a few days…"

"Excuse me?"

Rosie suddenly felt the air leave her body, as Coach tightly wrapped his arms around Rosie, lifting her off the ground.

Rosie gasped. "Coach-"

"I really, really appreciate it, Reiger. Thank you."

Was this really the same gym teacher who _hated _her guts, making her and Leo run extra miles when they were being annoying and wouldn't shut up? Were they...dare she say it..._friends_?

She felt herself melt as Coach placed her down. She swallowed hard, telling herself not to cry. "Of course, Coach. I'll see you soon, okay?"

He nodded. "And, Rosie?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck with Valdez."

She blushed, suddenly regretting the empathy link. "Right. Um- thanks, Coach."

"And remember," he said with a final withering glare. "I'll be able to see things- I'm _still_ the chaperone."

She laughed, as the two of them joined the others near the statue.

Rosie walked up to Nico. "So, are we doing this?" She asked hopefully. "Is this enough to warrant a hug?"

"In your dreams, Reiger," he said.

"Fair enough," she said. "How about a high-five?" She clasped her hands together in a begging manner. "Oh, please, Nico, a high-five!"

"Fine," he relented, giving her a hard high-five.

She grinned. "Be careful out there."

He nodded, turning back to the statue, making sure it was secure with ropes.

Reyna stared at Rosie expectantly. She wasn't sure if she should approach her- after all, she didn't think the two girls ever had a conversation with just them.

Rosie approached cautiously.

"I, uh, wish you luck out there," Rosie finally decided to say.

Reyna nodded. "Thank you, Rosie."

"Those two are the best kind of folk you'll ever meet," she said, nodding over to Nico and Coach. "It takes a while for them to grow on you...but once they do…" She smiled. "The greatest friends you could have."

Reyna nodded stiffly, and Rosie wondered if maybe, she shouldn't have said that. "Right."

Rosie, before she could rethink it, gave Reyna a quick hug. The praetor stiffened, like maybe she was thinking about flipping Rosie onto her back. After a second, however, she relaxed, giving Rosie a small pat on her back.

"I'm sorry about Scipio," Rosie whispered. She felt the loss of Karey all over again.

Reyna broke away from the hug, her face unreadable. Maybe she could sense Rosie's own pain. "Thank you, Rosie. I…" She trailed off. "I wanted to thank you for talking to Grant. I talked to Jason and Piper, and...um, I hope you got through to him. I hope one day he realizes he still has a home with us."

"A sanctuary," Rosie blurted out. She couldn't help it- she had been obsessed with the idea of that ever since Jason told her.

Reyna gave her a small smile, signaling that she knew what Rosie meant. "Yes."

"Goodbye, Reyna."

"Goodbye, Rosie. I…I hope we have the chance to talk again."

Reyna got in position, Coach and Nico on both sides of the statue as Reyna stood in the back.

"All right," Nico said, clearing his throat. He gave Rosie, Percy, and Annabeth a final nod. "Grab the ropes, please. Here we go."

The Athena Parthenos collapsed into its own shadow, disappearing. It's three companions were gone with it.

Percy turned to her. "Since when are you and Nico so close?"

She laughed, wedging herself in the middle of Percy and Annabeth, throwing her arms around them. "Let me catch you two up."

Rosie could tell that Percy had missed the sea. He gazed down at it lovingly, as the ship was cruising across the Ionian Sea, towards Greece. She sat on the rail watching her brother, her hair blowing in the breeze.

"I owe you an apology," she said, unable to ignore the hatred she had for how she treated Percy in the past.

Percy's gaze broke away from the sea. "How come?"

She gulped. "I...I was so unfair to you, Percy. The way I treated you-" She broke off. "The thought of you in Tartarus, especially after how _nice_ you had been to me-"

"Hey, hey, hey," Percy admonished, coming closer to her. "What happened, Ro? What's wrong?"

That was her brother- comforting _her _after _he _had just been through hell.

"A lot has changed," she admitted, flatly. She gave her brother a shrug. "I found out...Dad's been protecting me this entire time. And I don't even know how it's possible for him to help me, since the gods are so incapacitated...I don't know why. I wish he wouldn't, especially after what he's done to you and…"

"Max," Percy finished, nodding.

Rosie gulped. "The prophecy-"

"Isn't going to hurt us," Percy said, although there was truth lacking in his voice. "I don't know why Dad- I mean, Poseidon, has done what he's done. I haven't even seen him since my sixteenth birthday. But I know we don't need him." Percy's voice carried a tone of finality. "We've got our own family here."

Rosie smiled. "I'm starting to think you're right."

Her brother smiled back at her, but there was a pain in his eyes. She noticed how much thinner Percy was now- he had lost muscle, and generally looked weaker than he was going into Tartarus. He almost looked like he was leaning on the railing for support, fearing that he might fall over.

"I really am glad you're okay," she said, not sure how she could convey it in words. She didn't want to poke her brother too much- hopefully he would open up at some point.

Percy looked over at her, a soft look on his face. "I'm glad to be back, Ro."

And she would be ready whenever he was.

"Hi."

The two of them turned, seeing Leo, standing with his hands in his pockets.

"I, uh, hate to break up the sibling reunion...but, um, could we talk?" Leo asked Rosie.

"She's all yours," Percy said.

For some reason, Leo looked tense around Percy- his jaw was set, and he fixed on Percy with a stony gaze. "Right- thanks, man."

"I'll catch up with you later," Rosie said, Percy giving her a nod as he walked away.

Leo hopped up onto the railing next to her, sitting close next to her.

Rosie ignored the thumping in her heart- she couldn't allow the emotion to ruin this conversation.

"Hey," he said lightly.

"Hey."

"So," he said with a breezy laugh. "How much do you wanna bet Zhang is going to need an entire new wardrobe?"

Rosie didn't laugh. She found herself staring at the ground. "Why do you do that?"

Leo's face faltered, a bit of his bravado gone. "I...what do you mean?"

"Joke like everything's okay," she said. She winced at the harshness of her words. "I mean...I _know _you're not okay. You cover things up with humor."

"Pot, meet kettle," Leo said flatly, slouching a bit.

"Stop," she chided gently. "Talk to me, Leo- tell me what's wrong."

"Are you kidding?" Leo asked, baffled. "You're the one who has been avoiding me- it's like I don't even know you anymore."

That hurt. Rosie wondered how much of this was easy just to say because they weren't facing one another.

"What do you want from me, Rosie?" Leo asked-not harshly, but genuinely asking.

"I...I want my friend back." Even as she said this, she knew it wasn't true. She wanted more, so much more.

"I'm standing right here," Leo said, sounding unbelievably tired. He sounded defeated- she just wanted to know _why._

"You're my best friend," she said, hoping the implication of those words were enough.

"Am I?"

"No," she said, laughing humorlessly. "You're right- you're not my best friend."

Leo said nothing, as Festus creaked into the night sky.

"You are so much _more_ than that," she said, unaware of how clearer she could make it. Would she have to write it in the stars? "You're...you're my home. I like you, Leo. But you're my best friend and I would never want to risk it any other time. But I have to say it. Maybe this is the last thing you want to hear but...I kind of wish something could happen between us."

"Rosie…"

"Don't," she said in a sharp tone.

"Rosie, I-"

"I just want to know what's wrong." Now she was the defeated one. "Seeing like you like this? It hurts me, Leo. Seeing you in any kind of pain-" she broke off. "Hurts me."

"Freckles."

"You don't have to say you love me." She didn't want any pity returned feelings- she was just starting to believe that she _deserves _someone who was _madly_ in love with her. The type of person that would jump into Tartarus for her. She saw the way her brother looked at Annabeth; she wanted _that_. "I...you don't have to return any feelings."

Leo finally turned to look at her, glancing with soft eyes. "You're my best friend- of course I love you."

Her heart stopped.

"Like...how I love Beauty Queen or Jason. You guys are my family."

"Right," she gritted out. "Of course."

She was just Rosie- his plucky sidekick. How could she ever think that she was possibly more than that?

"I'm-I'm sorry. I shouldn't...God, I'm a jerk-" Leo truly looked agitated.

"Nope," she cut him off quickly. "Don't. I told you- no feelings have to be returned."

Leo paused, hesitating. "Still best friends?"

She nodded weakly. "Always." She paused, having no clue if this would be possible. "Is there something you need to tell me? Did...did something happen with you and Calypso?"

Leo's face hardened, peering off into the distance.

"No," he said, his tone undetectable. "Not at all."

"Okay."

She wasn't sure if she believed him. In the past, she would've believed him with no uncertainty. But now...she had the vaguest feeling that he was just trying to protect her feelings.

"Okay," she repeated. "So...so I'm going to go."

"Rosie, wait-"

"Nope," she said, cutting him off. "It's fine, Leo. Really. I'm going to go, and you and I...are going to be fine; we can't afford being weird or awkward, alright? We can't mess up the quest. I'm serious."

"Rosie-"

"Say alright, Leo."

Leo's face fell, nodding. "Alright."

"I'm going to walk away...and we're going to celebrate the fact that our friends came home."

Leo nodded one last time. "Okay," he said, his voice tiny.

Rosie hopped off the railing, walking away from Leo. It took everything in her not to look back.

Part of her knew in that walking away, she was saying goodbye to her friendship with Leo as she knew it. She knew that their relationship would forever be altered- _tainted_. Part of her had just said goodbye to Leo-the boy from Wilderness who befriended her even when everyone else thought she was a freak, her first friend in years. The boy who always knew how to make her laugh, the one who was always _there_ at the end of the day. Her partner in crime. It wasn't just Leo who was going to change- in walking away, she left behind a part of herself with him.

Her friends, for some reason, were sprawled in a big heap on the ground, all staring up at the night sky. All except Percy and Annabeth, who were clutching onto one another a few yards away. Leo had returned to the helm, tinkering with the astrolabe. He stood off to the side, alone.

Rosie, amused, loomed over her friends.

"And what exactly is this?" she asked, grinning.

Piper giggled. "We want to sleep under the stars tonight."

"Seriously?" She exclaimed, throwing herself to the ground. She guessed this was something they could now do without Coach chaperoning- although, he would probably find out. "I'm down."

She wedged herself between Jason and Frank. She turned to face Frank, winking at him. "Sup, Praetor Zhang," she said flirtatiously.

Frank blushed, moving closer to Hazel. "She's doing it again!"

Hazel peeked over Frank's chest, laughing. "You're evil."

"Proud of it," Rosie said.

Jason looked over at her. "You okay?" He asked.

She figured he had seen it, the conversation with Leo.

"I will be," she decided calmly, looking up at the stars. And she truly meant it- things were going to be okay, no matter how they turned out. Nico's words were in her head: she didn't ask for this life, but she was doing the best she could with it. "Hey, you know any constellations?"

She couldn't see him, but she hoped he was smiling. "Yeah, a few."

As Jason started telling them about the constellations, Rosie settled in, never feeling safer before than among the friends surrounding her. Right now, there was no Gaea or giants or prophecy. Instead, she thought back to her childhood, growing up in Maine. Her bedroom window was perfect for looking at the stars. That was how she spent so many of her nights: staring up at the stars, imagining worlds she could only dream of, worlds she didn't know existed until now. She remembered the Leonardo Da Vinci quote her mom and Buzz were obsessed with, the one they used to recite on starry nights on the Rosemary, their naval ship. She still knew it word for word.

_Fix your course to a star and you can navigate any storm._

And my god, did she hope that was true.

* * *

**okay, so i feel slightly guilty for ending on that note. but hell's holding is officially complete! i am currently doing a BoO rewrite, but I'm probably going to hold off from posting until i'm completely done with it- lots of loose ends to wrap up. in the meantime, i might post some oneshots- keep your eyes peeled for a oneshot on june 10th! **

**thanks so much for all of the support, guys! you are all the best readers. if you feel like rereading the entire rewrite, i do recommend that- might give you some clues as to how this is all going to wrap up.**

**thanks again everyone!**


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